A New Opportunity

This week was packed. No pictures because my camera's battery just died. So last Monday all the missionaries in the district went out to this all you can eat sushi place. It is awesome: you order food on IPads and they just keep bringing it. And they only charge you for what you eat! I liked the raw salmon on rice...didn't care much for the tuna though:)

Tanner wrote this and I exploded with Joy:):)

Guess what! Yesterday as I was saying goodbye to our investigators Gabriel & Nicole, Gabriel wanted each of us to say a prayer to close out our final meeting. For his prayer he was just talking about me and how much he loves me, and wishes the best for me....and then he brought YOU into the prayer. It was so funny. "I just pray that you keep Charles' friend safe in Toronto...help her become the woman of God that you want her to become. And......let them be together and let it work out for them in the end, if it's your will." I've talked about you like twice to them. I thought it was super funny. 

Okay, so I guess I haven't told you much about Mordecai. I found her a couple months ago in the subway. I asked if the missionaries could come teach her and she said yes, that she was looking for a new church because she didn't feel the spirit at her church anymore like she used to. (It is so cool to meet elect people and talk to them; it MAKES your day). So I get her info and pass her info off. A couple weeks pass and the Elders still haven't contacted her!! Grrrrrr But finally after me reminding them they meet with her and she is so legit still. Anyway, she was baptized two Sundays ago. The YSA elders tell me her baptism was AMAZING! Everyone was crying. Mordecai said that when she told her mom she wanted to be baptized her mom looked at her and walked out of the room. Mordecai thought that her mom was mad. She came out two hours after. Turns out she had been crying; she was so happy that her child had found God. Her mom gave the opening prayer at the baptism. When Mordecai came out of the water she was smiling and crying. She said "Mom! I can feel it. I can feel it now!" (the spirit) ahhh I almost want to cry while typing this. Mordecai bore an amazing testimony and after her mom came up and gave her a hug and they cried. Now her mom is a potential investigator!!!

The Gospel is true. There is nothing else in the world that can bring YOU, you're friends, strangers more joy. Share the Book of mormon. Study it. Develop a strong relationship with Christ so that having joy and sharing the gospel comes easy.

Okay then on Thursday I was sent to a leadership meeting in  Brampton (where the mission office is)!! Sister Mendenhall stayed and Sister Coleman, one of the YSA sisters, went with me. It was SOOOOO exciting!!!! Ah I was pumped to share the gospel. Some changes are happening in the mission: The way we teach and work with less active and active members. It is so exciting. It is super hard to tell you how it is changing but basically it's supposed to be guiding them through the Pamphlet, giving a brief overview, and testifying of what they read and comment on from it. Then we have them read the rest on their own.

We had a really cool experience Thursday night of teaching in this manner of simply testifying of what the investigator was reading from the pamphlet. We cut down on really defining things such as apostasy, priesthood, etc ad had HIM read definitions and boxes on authority and just directed his learning. By the time we got to Joseph Smith receiving the Melchizedek priesthood he knew exactly what was going on in the picture and told us that "the authority that had been lost from the earth was on the earth again." It was so cool to see this method working out so well. We invited him to be baptized (3rd time we have done it) and he said yes. They are changing a lot of things in our mission so that we can be "full purpose missionaries" helping EVERYONE come closer to christ (Less active, Recent Convert, members, ad investigators). By the way, his name is Jerone.

Have I told you all about Kent yet? So sister Mndenhall opened her mouth at the dollar store a while ago and that is how we met. Kent: 50's, has young kids, recently  separated from a wife that cheated, strong family values and faith, recently had a stroke, buses a 2 hour bus ride one way to his kids Saturday and Sunday, oh ad he's a real yapper;)

He is so prepared for the gospel and says he feels so good when he reads the pamphlets. He talks quite a bit...haha it is really hard to control where the conversation is going. Our most recent lesson he told us of a concern he had: He is having a hard time fitting in yet another thing into his schedule. We brought a member with us who shared an amazing experience of how the gospel has blessed his life and all though it didn't make sense to convert and live it in the worlds eyes, he pressed forward and it has blessed his life immensely. He is such an amazing member: is name is Brother Bristo ( I'll tell you about him another time. Remind me.) I shared an experience of how reading the BOM blessed my life in college and actually lifted the burdens I felt and I was able to accomplish everything I needed to. Bro Bristo offered to drive him to Stowville on Sundays so that he could at least come to sacrament meeting. Kent came last Sunday. (If Kent rides the bus he has to leave at 9 so that he can enjoy most of the day with his kids and bring them back to Toronto. However, church starts at 10, so brother Bristo offered to drive him and give him the chance to see if this was something he really wanted to put into his life.  It was so awesome. So charitable).

Every time we bring a different member to a lesson with Kent, he retells his WHOLE LIFE STORY. It is kinda funny. We really have to set hard core expectations and help him understand that we only have 45 minutes!!!!!!

Funny experience: So we teach this girl named Anisa (9) and we taught her the restoration and then had her teach us. While she was teaching us and asked us to read a passage I took the passage, turned to sister M and said "here honey". Then I ERUPTED with laughter. Her father (a recent convert) got it and sister Mendenhall started laughing. Anisa was yelling, WY ARE YOU LAUGHING?! I couldn't stop. I died.

Okay. So this week was the last week of the transfer and even though I was invited to that random but cool meeting, I was convinced that we were staying together. So I was writing in my journal at 10:15 (usually the call comes between 8:30-9:30 if we are leaving) and describing my feelings about saying together another transfer when.......THE PHONE RINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I AM TRAINING!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH  I am so excited. So nervous. I haven't even taught majority of the lessons because we haven't had any progressing investigators for a long time. I am staying in the area. I really want to do things a little bit differently with my companion. I want her relationship with Christ to grow so much this transfer. I want her to be totally comfortable to talk about anything with me. I WANT to laugh all the time. I want to actually call our potentials.

I am so excited! Time is running over. ahhhh

Love you alll!! Sister Reeves

Open You Mouth: Crockpot Food and Baptisms!

Here is our crock pot creation. So good!

Okay! Here are the highlights.

This week we had an investigator come to church! And someone who I had bus contacted and then referred to the YSA Elders got baptized! She was so cool. When I was talking to her that first time, she was saying "Yeah! I am actually opening to learning about you guys. I am looking for a different church because I don't feel anything in mine anymore." (LESSON LEARNED: THE IMPORTANCE OF OPENING OUR MOUTHS TO EVERYONE) I wish we could have gone to her baptism but we didn't have an investigator to take with us. So I was pretty bummed, but apparently it was really cool. And, of course, as Church was finished and we were walking to the bus stop, we saw Brodie who was trying to find the entrance to the Church. I almost ran up and gave him a hug. It was so weird; I was so happy to see him. I had been pretty bummed that whole day. We always see him; It was his first time coming to church! He was pretty late but at least he went AND he went to Mordecai's baptism :) 

On Monday night we saw the power and authority of our calling as missionaries as we saw the Holy Ghost working onless actives. We talked to them about the importance of coming to church and taking the sacrament. It was really awesome to see the Holy Ghost working in the head of the household when he proclaimed "I'm in charge. And we are going to church." The wife did say that we were being to pushy...but the husband said that she was wrong, and that her excuses didn't matter. It was a cool lesson...except for the pushy part (I felt bad about that..Sister Mendenhall told her it was the spirit pushing her not us).

They came to church! And we were trying to help them feel loved by introducing them to people...Sister D.(the LA) was not happy about that and told us that we were being very pushy, and she did not like being treated like a LA and she felt bad. We didn't know what to say. We are going on Wednesday and saying sorry and teaching them hopefully.

The Indian Lady is Hosne. a sweet Less Active Lady. She literally has Nothing in her fridge, but always feeds us when we go over. Sometimes she forgets to take the chillies out of the food. and I explode. ha She feels like she knew me before this life. She tried to find mom on FB. I promise I don't always look this nappy!

We did an instruction for Zone counsel on building relationships with members before sacrament meeting and about asking them go visiting teaching! It was great. The spirit was there.  The zone leaders talked about ALWAYS being a missionary and I thought about Grandma Reeves. She is always being a missionary. Sometimes I stop sharing the gospel with people when, for instance, it's a p-day I am buying something at Walmart, my brain goes in a different mood. But I realized at that meeting that I had to be like Grandma Reeves in Europe. The rest of the day I endeavored to be like her. I found that in my contacts the spirit was so much stronger and my testimony thick.

We saw Eliane last night; she shared with us some of her poetry. The one's she shared were very funny;I am going to get a copy and then send them to you. The best part is that when she was telling them she was dying of laughter. 

Have you guys checked out the site mormonchannel.org? It has a ton of cool stuff!

Here is Helana and her family! We started making scripture boxes 

for them a week ago and they finished them. Here they are! :) 

NCIS Pays Off in the Mission Field

"I am pretending to be cold. It all actuality I am not...haha my coat is actually very nice."

[In response to mentioning that Lisa and I had finally finished the temple for work for a woman the Sam had found]:  Dad! So glad to hear that you got Sarah Hyland's work done. Yep I do remember that name! Which is a miracle, because, on the street, two seconds after someone tells me their name I forget it. I'm working on it! 

So as missionaries we get to go to the temple every six months if we are within an hour of it. We are in an hour of it so if I go out any further I won't get to go! Dad & Mom I love your letters! It's not preachy to me at all!

MOM!!! SOOO Sorry I keep forgetting to say in my emails!! I got the first package a while ago!! And I got the halloween one on the 22nd!! So no need for express shipping!!!! I loved them!!! haah Thank you soooo much!! The granola was the bomb.com Abby's invitation was soo cute as well. I think we will roast those marshmallows over the stove this week:)

[In response to my question about where in the mission the sisters typically serve]:  Dad- Honestly I'm not sure where else they serve, they do serve outside of the GTA though! There is only like 2 area's we know of where the sisters aren't. 

"WE heart attacked a less active door! We came back days later...she LOVED it. 

She went on to say how grateful she was for the people in the ward that wrote on all these hearts, 

that she could tell because of the different hand writing...we nodded and smiled. The awkward thing was that it was just us that did the hearts. But I must say, my awful handwriting has now come in use once in my life;)"

So, there is this guy is name is pronounced Yacob. We met him on the street two times and the second time we talked a bit longer. He likes the BOM and wants us to go preach in his area. But he is selective in the commandments he keeps. He said that we should preach the message but just not to tell people they had to stop making money the way they were "'cause aint no one gonna listen to you then. We all gotta make a living..." "I am in the area from 1-5 watching the money go." In short he is a drug dealer. haha Later I realized Sister Mendenhall had no idea what he was talking about. So It was kind of funny to explain to her. Kudos to my NCIS watching!

We dropped by Daphne on Saturday and ended up teaching the whole apt! Brody answered the door and later Daphne and Matthew joined us. We taught them Family prayer, which they basically committed to do before we extended them the commitment. It was fun. Then we taught them. W.O.W. Daphne ate it up. She only had tea issues; Brody and Matthew are more complex, and the whole time Daphne was saying stuff like"see, I told you i was right...you need to eat vegetables, and quitting smoking will help your heart."   Brody said it'd be really hard...but he can do it. Matthew said he'd work on it. We were expecting them to get the church on Sunday but then they texted and said Matthew was in the ER. 

"We post ESL flyers all around town. Upon posting one we found this card. It says "What is my purpose in life" "Where do I come from?" "where am I going?" It is the pack of one of the cards we pass out as missionaries. 

Some other missionaries must have taped it up a time ago.

We visited Eliane yesterday! She went to sacrament yesterday! She fed us spaghetti. The sauce was homemade and really incredible. I'm getting the recipe! She gave us fruit cake to take home for dessert. 

We started to talk about Ether 12 and then Eliane got talking.  Anyway, she told us of some cool experiences and how after she was baptized the spirit would yank her out of "not elevating situations."  She said, "I used to watch all kinds of movies, but now when I see something that doesn't elevate me it's like God yanks my spirit and says 'what do you think you're doing?!'"

The talking continued and she told us about how the temple really bugs her and how it bothers her that she doesn't feel the spirit there at all; in fact, she doesn't like being there. 

In the lesson Sister Mendenhall mentioned that she had one of her most spiritual experiences at the temple. In my mind I thought that I had not had one of those experiences yet, but that did know temples were important because I felt the spirit of peace there. As I proceeded to tell her this I found myself sharing a spiritual experience that I did have on the grounds of the temple, one that I had forgotten but truly had been a special experience. It was cool to see the spirit reminding me of the spiritual experiences I had. I know I have had many more that I unfortunately have forgotten momentarily or had not realized the significance of at the time...but I am so grateful for the spirit and how it can remind me of these experiences.

Yesterday Sister Mendenhall and I got separated for an hour and a half!! It was so annoying wasting that time. I had gotten off the subway and she had not. It took a long while to get a hold of her. After asking several people for their cell phones and not getting a hold of her, a Filipino man saw me and said "Are you mormon?!" Turns out he is an inactive member! He gave me change for a payphone! I then got a hold of her!

I am learning to love the gospel as a missionary. Work in progress! I am also working on being selfless.

Love,

Sister Reeves

More Progress with Less Actives

Hello!!!!  Okay so this week we met the coolest less active. I love her so much. She joined the church 10 years ago. She is 72 and from Corsica. She is going to teach me how to pray in French. We challenged her to read Ether 12. She feels uncomfortable at church and feels like no one likes her. We told her to think about how the Savior can help her come back. She went to the saturday session of stake conference (WHICH WAS INCREDIBLE) and right when it ended she said, "Now I feel guilty!" 

We asked her why and she said "Becuase I am the one making all the excuses." It was cool to have the spirit teach her and for her to recognize it. I showed her around and introduced her to members of the ward. They thought she was an investigator... she would respond "No I am a less active in your ward and they are draggin me back!" haha she is so cute. I love her! Hopefully she lives long enough so you all can meet her. We are going to have a discussion about Ether 12 on Friday!


Here are some quotes from conference that I enjoyed:

• "Just doing the things on our 'gospel bucket list' doesn't equate to having His image in our countenance." 
• "Pray with extraordinary faith in the morning to be blessed with opportunities to share the gospel" 
• "The bishop didn't have a plan but Heavenly Father had one. Because he listened to the spirit, he was able to be a tool in the Lords hands." 

One man who was a bishop who I LOVED shared a story about procrastination (secretly I want to marry someone like him.  He was so cool! So young yet his heartfelt testimony of how he felt the atonement in his life was beautiful) 

One day all the devils got together and they counseled on how they could get God's Children. One of the devils yelled "Lets get them to lie and steal and cheat!" (All the devils liked that and cheered) then another said "Lets get them to hate each other and kill!" (They cheered even louder). Then one wise old devil in the back of the room got up and said "Lets get them to go to church, pray, and read." The room got silent. Then in an uproar everyone started yelling "Hey! He's not on of us!" "Who does he think he is?!" They went crazy. Then Satan, the king of all the devils, got up and said, "No. I like that. Lets get them to pray and read even attend church and make them feel good about being baptized. Lets have them do all these things...Tomorrow."

Another cool experience we had this week was that we didn't know what to do with the time we had left. So on the street we said a prayer and BAM! a man started walking toward us. We greeted him, and he responded, "Hey! Weren't you girls supposed to meet with me today?" (On exchanges sister Bodine had set up an appointment with a man named Jerone. We forgot about the appointment and realized later in the day, and called him but to no avail.)

We told him about the confusion!  and He agreed to meet us right there at Tim hortons to hear our message. It was great! His name is Jerone. Hopefully we can meet with him this week. #miracles


H.and her family are having a really hard time right now. Her separated husband is extremely verbally abusive and controlling. He will not let them go to church. They feel like they have been praying and reading more than ever but life is getting worse. For a moment I was frustrated at God that he was not blessing them. They prayed so hard that their dad would not come get them for the weekend but he came. They are very upset now. We are seeing them tonight and are hopefully getting some people to give a priesthood blessing tomorrow. We have the COOLEST idea for a lesson though. Sister mendenhall and I feel very strongly to deviate from the original plan and to teach about music and share a pioneer story. We are going to commit them to memorize a hymn so they can say it in their minds in the downest of times.

I LOVE music. It has lifted me when I felt so down. I love writing lyrics. I've been doing so a little more this past week. 

In my nightly prayers while I was praying about them I realized that I did not want to fully accept the Lords will.

Love you all!!!!!!!!

Oh, one more thing.  We have been trying to visit this less active family, the T's, for a while. One day we were with some members and had planned on meeting with an investigator. But they were late and the investigator couldn't meet anymore. So we decided to go to the T's with them and try our luck. As luck would have it we got into the apartment building, stepped out of the elevator there were the T's, carrying groceries into their home! aH HAH!! We caught them and...sort of pushed our way past the excuses into the home. 

At first they were pretty standoffish but by the end of the lesson I KNOW that sister T. felt the spirit and Brother T. gave the prayer. She then invited us over for dinner on Thursday. The members that went with us were super awesome at bearing testimony and inviting them to activities. Mom, dad, jeffrey, Daphne, and Emma! Have any of you been out with the missionaries? Your challenge this week is to get their info, invite them for dinner in the future, and tell the ages of everyone and that you all would love to go out with them for an appointment. (For instance mom and emma could go and visit a less active family with kids, or part member family and it'd be super great!!)


Sister Reeves

P.S. Dad how is that guy at work that you are trying to share the gospel with?

Hearing about your guy's fall break adventures was great! Of course the car broke down! I've been telling you to get rid of that thing for years! How is Bob (my car) doing? Man, thinking about watching all of the Work and the Glory episodes brought me right back to going to the Browns house. That was so fun!

We passed off Brodie to the YSA elders! He is doing good. Hasn't come to church yet though! Satan is working hard on him, he says. We are meeting with Daphne on Wednesday! Hopefully she will understand how the gospel can bless her family, not just brody.

As for Ahab and his family we decided to give him some time because they were "so busy.." We are going to contact him this week!! 

Grandpa:
So my area is North York,  basically Scarborough! We have been downtown a bit for things like the BOM Musical. There are about 85 members who attend. There are 3,500 Less active members in the Stake. I am starting to think that Sister Mendenhall's and my job is not to find a ton of new investigators but rather to reactivate and help ward members do their home and visiting teaching! I love working with the members. The ward mission leader is great! Thank you for all your suggestions!! 

She looks quite domesticated, doesn't she?

Sam with  Sister Gayle, who she refers to as the Don Mills Ward angel.

Sam took this picture, apparently to mock Tanner and me, who, when discussing 

our cooking skills boast that we both make a great frozen pizza.

Sam and Sister Mendenhall

Growing Pains

We had exchanges on Wednesday and Thursday and....sister Bodine was with me!!!! It was so fun. Everyone does missionary work a little differently and it's always fun to see how people do it. When she contacts people there is like a circle of love and the spirit that surrounds her and the people we are talking to it's so cool.

Sister Bodine challenged me to write down something everyday, something that I did good that day, and then at the end of the transfer pull them out and look at how "far" I've come. She said, "We can't see where we want to go, if we don't know where we are or where we have been" which I loved. It's not like I think I'm the worst missionary ever. It's just that I don't recognize what I do well. Partly in fear of getting a big head... and also I think it has a lot do with my athletic background--sprinting. One is constantly trying to figure out that one little thing that you're doing wrong so you can fix it and get a faster time.

I've been trying to do it for the last week (writing things down) It's actually really hard! We also committed a member to do it, which I think will really help her. I encourage everyone! :)

ahah I am just looking in my journal. I drew a picture of a fruit fly....we have tons of them. It is disgusting. It's not like our apartment is really dirty. We just have apples and tomatoes on the counter (I started putting the bananas in the fridge).

Okay, so I've been thinking about being a consecrated missionary and the scripture "whosoever shall loose their life shall find it..."

Sometimes it feels like my relationship with the Savior is decreasing. Sister Mendenhall said there was a time she felt like that on her mission, "it's not that you've lost your relationship with the Savior but you start focusing less on yourself and more on your investigators."

This is what I wrote for October 18....I just want your thoughts on it.

Today was weird. I just started to realize how I'm losing who I am out here. I just feel like I'm me because I want to be consecrated. I'm still trying to figure out what consecrated means.  But like stuff I used to do--write music, think about my family, Tanner, err really anyone. Home is like a dream. When friends like Corrie tell me they have been thinking of me, it's kinda weird. The scripture...whosoever shall loose their life shall find it..rings in my head, while I am writing this. Today I realized that my testimony of the Savior--more like my relationship with him--feels like it is decreasing. I envy Tanner for still being able to be "Tanner" (writing music, sending cute lovey things) but it still sounds like he is being a "good" missionary and his testimony is ever growing. Idk I just kind of miss little things like writing songs. It sounds dumb but I do. I miss talking about love and thinking about it.

I guess the question is, how much can I bring from home? Perhaps it is a spiritual endeavor I'll have to figure out. I just want to know soon before it's too late!

Today wasn't a bad day. There was outward success. I guess just inward failure.

Night!

I miss little parts of Samantha. Like how she writes music about love.  ahah and just thinking about people like Cole or Tanner or cousins. The world back home seems like it never happened. I guess I 'm just trying to figure out "becoming consecrated." On Saturday night and Sunday morning it was tough because I just wanted to go home. Because I felt the love and excitement of a Savior more there and I could do those little things I miss.

Okay don't get worried just wait.

So I decided to fast Saturday night because I knew I needed strength from the Lord. I realized I had become exhausted doing this work using only my strength and I needed to let the Savior help me in the work. I knew that fasting could help me depend on the Lord. So for breakfast I feasted on the word and read the weekly letter from President Clayton and
Grandpa's letter. President Clayton talked about conference....

I LOVED CONFERENCE!! Sorry I didn't talk much about my favorite things but I really love this thought from it). President Uchtdorf commented about gaining a testimony and said "The process of gathering spiritual light is the quest of a life time..spiritual truth will fit your heart and bring light to your spirit...the Savior promised that If you seek , you will find."

I am looking for light and a full heart at this time of discouragement. I must seek! then I thought about the quote "Feast upon the words of Christ" and I was lead to 2 Ne 32

Feast on the word, and it will tell you what you should do. (It will help me know how to have Christ in the work). If you still can't understand it is because ye ask not (don't pray), Neither do ye knock (read scriptures).

Pray always.  If you pray first, he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that they performance may be for the welfare of they soul.

That last part of the scripture meant so much to me. Being "consecrated" is what I have been so stressed about. But if we pray before our labor he will consecrate our performance (our mission).

When the scriptures say pray, it's not just telling god everything and then hanging up. It is having that CONVERSATION with God. When we have a conversation he can tell us what we need to change, what we are doing well, among so many other things. By praying first we can know that what we are doing is what the Lord would have us do because he has confirmed it to us in our prayer.

I don't know if any of this in making sense....but it was just so awesome. My soul was wavering and I was hungry for the spirit and I was fed. All the questions and thoughts that I had were soothed. Not everything was answered and some things just stopped bugging me for the time. I testify to you that We must TURN to him in time of need and NOT away. He wants to help us. Whenever I turn to Christ for Strength when hard times hit, my sadness and pain is remedied.

Love you all!!

Tell grandpa thank you so much for his letter I loved it! And I loved Grandma Reeves letter about believing Christ. Tell them that I always tell people my grandparents were missionaries in Pakistan when I find out they're from there. It is so fun:)

Grandma Stoddard: I have been getting ALL your letters!! They are the highlight of my P-day. Thank you so much. I am so happy to hear that grandpa is doing better.

I got a letter from Sister Hollingshed , it was so sweet. Let her know I received it

I always think about being a Good example for Jeffrey. It's great. Thanks Dad.

Onward, Ever Onward

Sam and Sister Mendenhall Teaching English

This week was a great week! We had Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday. We are teaching a less active member (less active because her husband won't allow her and her children to go to church).  She is separated but not divorced because she doesn't have the money to get divorced. He still checks up on them, so they still have to hide the Book of Mormon. Talk about the blessings we have. We can practice our religion freely without getting beaten/abandoned. Her two daughters are investigators because they never got the chance to be baptized. Pray that things will work out! The mother's name is Helana. She is from Sweden and ran away from home at 17 because her mom was a pretty strict Mormon and being a teen, she didn't like that. She got married in Canada and he turned out not being good. She loves the church now. Her daughters are Electra and Acrieve. We taught them the Restoration and then had lasagna!

Then Sister Mendenhall had the great idea of inviting Ricardo (a recent convert who is fantastic but a little lonely) to go out to dinner. So we got Greek food! I got Vegetarian Souvlaki. The roatsted potatoes had a Tomato-like sauce on top that was really good. I had a typical greek side salad. I really liked the dressing...any ideas of what it was? It had feta cheese and the dressing we had was oil based. I want to mimic it. So that was our Thanksgiving! There was a really pretty church down by the Greek Restaurant.  I wanted to go in it soooo bad. haha someday! I'm not sure how the name tags and being in their church would "look" though. Of course, we wouldn't be procelyting in the church, I just thought it was beautiful. Maybe we'll go have to go in on a P-day.

Okay so I have a terrible memory...Soo I'll try to recount some highlights of the week.

We dropped by Ahab's place and only his wife and K. and young 3 yr old were home (they call him the devil; it's pretty funny). The wife was really nice and let us in. We began with a prayer and committed her to say the closing. Then we started taking about the role of prayer in her life which she said has really helped her when she felt depressed. She really misses Turkey. The custom is that they feed any guests that enter the home so she started making tea, which we declined, so she got us Canada Dry and Cookies. Then Ahab came home! 

He sat down with us and she left and started making food in the kitchen! She started making tea again and we told her we could only have herbal tea.  We tried to explain it.  Ahab, after hearing us trying to explain why don't drink tea, asked "so we are sinners?!" It was kind of awkward. Anyway, we read the introduction to the Book of Mormon with him. The lesson was kind of sporadic because of the movement and cooking etc. She fed us cucumbers, toasted bread, and eggs. It was really nice. When Sister Mendenhall would talk I would stuff my face because I didn't want to make her feel bad. At the end of the lesson they offered to give us a ride home.  We explained to them that there had to be an adult female in the car so the whole family got in the car and 9 at night and took us home.  That was really nice of them. They invited us back, but unfortunately had to cancel because of the long weekend. Ahab keeps hinting that he doesn't have time for religion right now but he will in November. (He is involved in construction, and they are really busy right now trying to get everything finished). We will convince him that he has time. I really really want to go back and teach a really really simple Gospel of Jesus Chris and show a Mormon Message.

We dropped by a less active this week.  We hadn't met her before. We knocked on the door and this lady yells "Who is it?!" 

"The sisters!" 

"Oh! I'm in the shower. Let me rinse off!" So then she came to the door in her robe and we sat down on the couch. She proceeded to tell us about her period, her doctor's appointment and E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. I couldn't help but smile and think about writing home. She probably took like three breaths the whole time we were there.  She was talking so fast and so much. She is a big black lady from England. She has the most energy of anyone I've ever met. You just can't help but smile. We asked her about her conversion, and why she hadn't been back to church, etc. Man, I just can't describe how funny the experience was. She said a lot more but it's probably not super appropriate. Anyway, I don't think she is quite there, but she is really nice!

More of the English Class. Apparently, Sam has become a lefty.

On Saturday it was "Day in a life of a missionary" where members are supposed to follow us around and take pictures of "missionaries in action." The event wasn't super organized for a number of reasons and so I don't think it was a huge success. The goal was to flood social media with pictures, comments, testimonies, and explanations about missionary work. It was good to do it, so now we can hopefully hold one in the future and know how to organize it a bit better. However, the day was a great day for us. We met one less active who fed us (she always feeds us, and she starts the meal right when we get there). Anyway, I could explain more about what happened and such but I'll just say this: date and marry converted members of the Church. I never realized how much the family is affected by marrying a truly converted member. In young women's they tell you not to date members. I always thought it was mean. But that advice will save us from so much heartache in the future. I have seen so many families adversely affected by not marrying a converted member, in hopes that they will change in the future. I can't accurately address this issue so perhaps I will write a letter where I can formulate my words. Always be friends with everyone! Just be careful who you fall in love with. I have seen the negative affects of not marrying in the temple/not marrying a converted member in the temple.

We went with a Less Active member to knock on the door of a potential investigator, Daphne. I remember meeting her on the street, which is pretty rare for me to remember because I was so happy she spelled her name like you do, Daphne!  A young man answered the door and upon seeing our name tags, he said  "Ah Jesus! I like you guys." Then Daphne came to the door and agreed to let us in. My jaw about dropped to the floor when she said we could come in. (We didn't even have to beg!). So we went in and found that Brody was his name and that Daphne was his friend. We started out with HTBT. We asked them How they had seen God in their lives. Brody about jumped out of his chair he was so excited to tell us his experience. He told us how he was very involved in gangs, robbing people, drugs, and violence. He said that he used to be a very hateful person because of the ways his father and brothers treated him. He told us how his younger brother died and how that wrecked his world. When he was younger, his mom always tried to get him to read the Bible but he would chuck it across the room.

One night he told his mom, "I need help. I'm either going to kill someone or kill myself." He explained how he kneeled down and prayed mightily to the Lord for help/forgiveness. He said the moment he got done with his prayer he felt free. He felt so much joy. "When people say Jesus don't exist, I take it pretty personal. He saved me. I know he does." He said that right before he we came to the door he was telling Daphne that he wanted to find a church. Then we came. He says he knows God answers prayers because every time he prays, something good happens. Daphne's boyfriend's mother just died and she has been trying to console him. His name is Matthew. She has so much faith and hope that things will work out, it's great.

As they were telling us this, I just felt that we needed to teach them the Plan of Salvation. I was worried Sister Mendenhall wasn't getting the same vibes but then she pulled out plan of salvation pamphlet so it was great!!! We taught them the plan of salvation using these cute pictures which he really liked because he is a visual learner. I'll have to take a picture of them sometime! Brodie ate up the plan of salvation. After about every two sentences he'd blurt out "yeah, yeah I agree."

It was so great. He said, "Man, I am going to that kingdom (pointing to the Celestial Kingdom). I know he can!! I know that the atonement can wipe away all wrongs when the heart of the sinner is truly repentant. The Savior WANTS to forgive. We just have to let him. God Loves us. He wants to bless us. We just have to accept Him and his blessings. While I was listening to Brodie, I couldn't help but see the Mormon Message people filming him telling his story. It is truly powerful. I hope they do.

Dad asked what our typical P-day is like. Here it is! We get up and shower and clean and put our laundry in.  Then we eat, do personal study, get our laundry, do companion study, write letters, go grocery shopping, and then either eat and go to the chapel for sports, or go shopping for things like a coat, etc.  And then I get to play the guitar and write songs-- I prefer doing the latter for P-day but Sister Mendenhall really likes going to play basketball. :) I hope we get to go to a museum/some gardens soon for P-days. No dad, we don't take naps: we would never have time for that! Sometime I think it'd be fun to watch Mormon Messages and just eat popcorn.

I think I have gained 3 pounds!! Here is the problem. I'm rarely satisfied! I'm never full! I feel like the only thing that helps me feel full is if I eat wheat/sugar.....I think that 1 lb has gone to my face and 2 lbs to my hips. This is an issue. Help? has it got something to do with my blood sugar?

When we don't have a successful day, it doesn't really bug me. I don't know if that is a problem? Sister Mendenhall gets pretty down about it.

I haven't had huge perfectionist issues on the mission so don't worry! Just like...if something is in my control such as (it is about 10 minutes before our time limit is up for a dinner appointment) They ask us if we want dessert. Of course I want dessert. But then I realize the time. The righteous thing to do would be to say no, and explain the time deal. But sometimes I say yes! then we notice that the day isn't as great. Sooooo on occasion I struggle with the command "Be ye therefore perfect" and not taking ourselves too serious. Does that make sense?

Love you all! I know that the Atonement is real!!!

Sister Reeves

At a dinner appointment with the Ward Mission Leader's, Brother Lim.

Brother Lim was kind of enough to send us an email, telling how much he thought 

of these two sisters.  I feel awkward sharing the entire contents of the email but I 

will share the following tidbit.  Of Sisters Reeves and Mendenhall, Brother Lim wrote,

"Their endearing smiles and genuine love seem to cut through the less active’s defenses. Those attributes just can’t be taught in the MTC."  We were grateful that Brother Lim was thoughtful enough to take time to write us.  All of us need to learn from that.  

As Marjorie Hinckley wrote, "Never suppress a generous thought."

Don't Blink Your Eyes

"Don't Blink your eyes! Refers to what Sister Mendenhall always says.

time flies on the mission!, so i drew a picture of it. "

Okay! So I will first answer the questions about the investigators....

We have a bunch of baptismal dates but none of them have been answering phone calls. So it is hard to ask you to pray for them/give specifics when I have given up on them myself and moved on. Perhaps I am the problem? Lack of Faith? 

We dropped SJ. Duval and Danika.  Ricardo and Gerrald are both from China! We can't get in contact with them but we VERY SIMPLY taught what the 5 principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, keeping commandments). They seemed to eat it up....but like I said we can't get in contact. Marvin flaked so we haven't met with him. Caroline and Shadyane....haven't met with them either! UGh! However, the most unlikely of investigator--Maria, Samirra, and Mila--we have consistently met with. Unfortunately, they have many unmet physical needs and have lost every single book/pamphlet we have given them, etc. 

They are from Romania. I know some are illegally here.... Futita Begs at the subway, sends money home to her kids in Romania, and is mad at religion because of the corruption it has caused in her country.  At this time in her life I don't think she is ready. She speaks English the best. Maria is a Christian and has so much faith! She is awesome. There definitely is a language barrier. We taught them the plan of salvation and it was great. Although there is a language barrier, we knew they understood. Maria thinks that her church teaches the plan of salvation the same way....we said they likely didn't but because of the language barrier it made it hard to explain but at the end of the lesson she asked the perfect question. It was something along the lines of: "Which church do I have to Join to get to the celestial kingdom? Which church has authority? Why is your church different?" So we left a restoration pamphlet and we are teaching that Wednesday! Pray that they will get to church! They are cool. Before I came to canada I imagined that everyone would have clean living conditions....not soo...haha sometimes I feel like I am in the deep south...but the people are great! We are going to clean Hosnee's house tomorrow:) When I see cockroaches crawling up the walls....I just have to pretend that there is NO POSSIBLE way that those things are getting in my hair or in the food.

This week we had two awkward situations where our investigators wanted married counseling. We were teaching one couple and the husband starts arguing with the wife because he wants to learn more about Christ and she only wants to believe in Alllah. The second was at our "English as a Second Language" session. I asked a little girl, "Do you like going camping with your dad?" to which she replies, "HE's not my DAD. He is Antonio." Later on the mother  tells us that Antonio doesn't want to get married and then Antonio says his wife is the one who doesn't. It was so random. It is as if because we are missionaries people think we know how to help their marriages....we just kinda shrug it off...because we shouldn't be giving counseling or we'll say something generic and sorta off topic like "Temples are great! We can be with our families together forever there!"

General conference was awesome. Saturday I had lots of questions answered. Sunday was good but not as amazing as saturday. I think It was because I wasn't exactly obedient.  I didn't start my Personal study at 8, rather like 8:05, because I was taking muffins out of the oven. I had the thought that I should put the muffins in later but I ignored it. Sooooo I felt bad after and I was terrified that I wasn't going to get anything out of conference and lose my opportunity to receive revelation. So I was saying sorry but then I felt like I was being like the Nephites, who, in 4th Nephi or Mormon,  after have lost the battle, are crying unto the Lord but not because they are forsaking their sins but because they are sorry they can't have joy in wickedness--as if I was only sorry because I knew I was loosing blessings.  Shortly thereafter, instead of having companionship study, we taught a lesson to a man in our apartment. I prayed that if I was forgiven I'd feel peace in my heart. Finally at the end of the lesson I did a bit. ughh ha this letter is awful! I know you guys read them for fhe....this one isn't like lifting. I'm sorry. I'll do better next week. :(

"I am working on drawing."

We have another investigator named Halil! He  accepted a baptismal date. He is a truck driver and his family lives in the states. They are originally from Albania. His closing prayer was so tender and he had tears in his eyes it was so sweet. Hopefully he reads a bit from the BOM during his drive to BC this week! the lesson was 1hr and a 1/2!!!! (They are supposed to be at most 45 minutes...he just asked a lot of questions! ah!)

After the Sunday session we went to a less active named Gladys [note from editor--name removed]. She became a member like 10 years ago and was active for 2 months. Then her controlling/schizophrenic husband took her out the the country and she couldn't go to church. Thus, her knowledge of the gospel is very limited. We are going to teach her all the new member lessons. She gave the sweetest prayer at the end of the lesson. She needed a lot of help, but you could really feel the spirit while she was praying.:)

Okay, back to Saturday. A couple weeks ago I met a guy on the bus named Ahab [note from Editor: name changed to protect this person]. He was a former ESL student! I asked him if he wanted to go on a church tour and he said yes! I called him on Friday to invite him to general conference, to which he responded that he wanted to come and learn more about Jesus.  He said that he felt like his religion was conflicting and wrong. He and his son came!! It was a miracle--something we weren't expecting. I have never felt so anxious at a conference session before! All I wanted was for him to have a spiritual experience and understand what was being said.

After the session we talked with him and learned a bit more about his background. He is Islamic and from Turkey (P.S. DON'T POST ANYTHING ONLINE ABOUT HIS FAITH NAME ETC. Some converts from the Muslim faith lose everything and their lives are in danger when they convert. One sad event happened a couple years ago. A man who converted from islam and the missionaries mom posted a picture of him on FB. The Iranian government found out, cut off all support and if he returns to his country he will be killed. He can't see his family ever again.)

"Last P-day we got together and played games!"

"I made Black Bean Soup! So good, I was crying 

because of the onions and mascara went EVERYWHERE."

"For ESL we played a game and had a potluck...it was good....

I tried every doughnut....(I just cut off pieces....;)"

Anyway :) We taught the restoration. The son K. [note from editor: name removed]. who is 14 isso ready to get baptized. He was saying how even if his dad can't come to church he will ride his bike. He was so sweet. Ahab talked about how he wants to get back to live with the father and he knows that can only be done if he is in God's church. ahhhhh and guess waht. the lesson was 2 hrs!! The time flew. Ahab and his son never got antsy and just kept asking questions and I didn't even realize it had been that long. The spirit was great. 

He told me that If I ever needed help that we could ask him....especially becuase I was an American....haah that was kinda scary/funny. They are sooooo cool! It's kinda funny that all of our investigators this week are from Eastern Europe. 

I met two Frenchies on the Bus!! Every time I talk with the I realize how awful my french is...haha but they love it when I... and i reallllly love it.

Yesterday on the bus I was talking to this girl about the Book of Mormon and how we can ask God if it is true, etc. While I was talking to her I could feel the eyes of the guy sitting next to us. I sort of ignored him because I thought it was probably some anti who was going to ruin everything. When I finished speaking, he began to speak.  I cringed, bracing for him to spewing anti stuff.  

"Sorry to interrupt," he began, "but I just have to say I know this book is true. Four years ago the missionaries came up to me and told me the same thing that she is telling you. I had questions, but I read and prayed. I know what this missionary is telling you is true."

To say the least I was FLOORED. Then my bus stop came. I picked my jaw off the ground, shook his hand, asked him his name, and hurried to get off the bus so I didn't miss my stop. It was so cool. Then Sister Mendenhall asked if he was a member. The thought didn't even cross my mind!!!!! Ahhhh I hope he is....because I didn't get any info of his!!! Half my brain was in the clounds and my jaw on the ground. He did have a white shirt and tie on though....so  maybe he was coming from conference...?! :) So that was like my favorite experience this week.

Some questions that I had for conference were:

• How can I have more hope? Preisdent packer answered it when he spoke about how the Savior is Hope and we must learn of the savior.

• How can I teach children the gospel? Teach them how to pray!!! (I loved that comment from...I can't remember...but It reminded me of my own conversion experience, I learned the gospel through my mother who taught me the importance of prayer.)

I have so much more to tell you about my lovely answers but I will have to do some next week!!! ahhh Conference was so good!! 

Love,

Sister Reeves

The sweetest lady in the ward named, Sister Gayle gave us some clothes. :) 

Ah i wish you could meet he! She has the most incredible testimony, she reminds me of 

Grandma Helen and Grandma Reeves. She is constantly stopping people and sharing the gospel. 

Her prayers amazing! I imagine that the disciples of Christ prayed that way after 

Christ came to the Americas.