So lets see. Another week has come and gone! They go by so fast. We did a lot of service this week which I enjoyed. We helped a lady in our ward on Tuesday with renovating her new home. I'm learning so many life skills out here as well as spiritual knowledge. The mission can do nothing but bless you. We ate dinner with our favorite family the Zuidhofs they're so great and try and feed us as much as they can. I love the members here in Taber they've taught me so much in their small quiet examples of just raising their families in the gospel. 

We taught our investigator Shane that night and got him on date to be baptized. He'll have to overcome a lot of addictions. This is the investigator we found the other week when we were having the super hard day and was walking down the street. He's so worried that the atonement doesn't apply to him because of all his mistakes in life. The best thing in the world was testifying to him that the atonement is for everyone. That its totally possible for him to change. He's ready and willing and said that he was excited to read the Book of Mormon. 

On Wednesday we worked so hard. It was just non-stop all day. We taught some good lessons. Met some new less-active members that wanted us to come back, which is always exciting. We went through a list of less-actives.....like literally this list has 100+ people on it. We don't know if they were still in the ward or not so we just contacted a bunch and may have found some potential investigators through it. That night the Elders joined us for dinner Elder Wilson and Elder Cook are hilarious. The members are awesome and are helping us and the Elders find more people to teach. 

Thursday we went to the Food Bank and we're meeting some really awesome people there. We finished up our weekly planning and then went out to Bow Island for exchanges, We exchanged with the Medicine Hat 4th ward Sisters. Sister Brandley came to Taber with me. Sister Brandley came out with me and is the nicest person on this planet! Oh my goodness such a sweetheart. We were asked to teach mission prep that night and no one showed up which was so sad! So we just went to our next lesson early and taught our investigator Matt. He's doing really good as well. We taught Word of Wisdom and he has no problems with it. Ha what a relief! Word of Wisdom problems are big here in Canada. 

On Friday we went out and walked all over Taber. Litterally just walked and walked and walked. We found another new inactive family to teach and also saw our investigator Shane. He told us that he stayed up and read 50 pages of the Book of Mormon the night before! That made me so happy! He has such a strong desire to change, its crazy! We helped a family move and then exchanged back that night. On Saturday we went to go help a family with their yard work but it was snowing all morning! So we just baked cookies and delivered them to people. It snowed ALL DAY LONG. Oh my. Ha. Then we went to a birthday party for a less-active family and did face-painting. Me and Sister Mortensen were laughing so hard, we should never face paint ever again. 

On Sunday we had 2 of our investigators come to church which we were happy about. President then called me and told me about Grandpa. I was so sad but President let me know how mindful Heavenly Father is of me and our family. He let me know how Grandpa will be able to help me as a missionary and that brought me so much comfort. We went to a fireside that night it was on temples and we sang "Families can be together forever" It just brought me a lot of comfort in knowing that we know the Plan of Salvation and that our family is blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all and hope you all know you're in my prayers. Let Grandma Martin know I love her very much and that I'm praying for her.

love 

Sister Martin

 "We went to a Hutterite Colony for P-day and all the little Hutterite boys were riding mini ponies! So cute!"

A cute Mennonite family that Sarah loves.

What a crazy week! Literally I don't think I've ever had such a crazy week. 

I forgot to tell you that last week on P-Day we went to Henderson Lake and it was so fun since the weather was so nice! I would be so happy if I never saw snow again...but really though. We caught a crayfish and that was sweeeet I guess. We went out to Grassy Lake after emails last week and I just love the people out there. Sister Mortensen went tracting out there but I'm pretty sure once we knock on one door all the Mennonites call each other and warn each other that we're there....so no one answered their doors. We did eat dinner with my favorite people ever the Torries, she made us Thai food and it was SO yummy! We then quickly drove out to Barnwell because the young women wanted us to come out and talk to them about being a sister missionary. I felt the spirit so strongly when I was talking to these cute little mia-maids. They all have such strong testimonies and I hope that I maybe helped one of them think more about serving a mission because its honestly the best thing I've ever done. That night we taught one of our investigators and it was good, he has a lot of family pressure which is sad but he has such a good sincere heart to do whats right. I'm just grateful for the family that I was born into because I have been blessed so much.

Oh remember how I said I didn't want any more snow? Yeah bad idea on Wednesday we were tracting and it started snowing. And I was just like REALLY? really?? I just need to take a mini vacation to an island. Haha no not really but maybe. We did stop by the food bank and they told us that they would love for us to come and do service so I was happy about that. We taught our investigator that night the Law of Chasity and he was so happy because he said that this is the first time he felt like he's doing something completely right and that he doesn't have a problem with any of it! Whew thats a relief! Then we went to a Relief Society activity and one of our old investigators came as well. I was super happy about that. 

We ended up going to the Food Bank on Thursday and it was sweet because this guy thought we were just there as students but then we explained that we're missionaries and he said "Oh! you must be the sisters that are teaching my friend! He speaks so highly of you!" Sure enough one of his friends is our investigator and its so fun when our investigators start doing missionary work. After that we kept getting all these texts of people cancelling appointments and then we went to contact referrals and no one was interested and it just seems like all our investigators are disappearing and at this point I was just kind of done. We went to a house and as Sister Mortensen was praying I just started laughing to deal with my stress because at this point I thought there was no point to keep working. Sister Mortensen just stopped the prayer and looked at me like I was crazy and started crying.....ha it was a good moment for both of us. We then had a really good conversation on increasing our faith and how we just need to trust in God. We then felt like we needed to go somewhere else and we drove down the street and before we went to knock on the house I told Sister Mortensen that if they weren't home then we could go get a blizzard at DQ because remember it was just that kind of day. They didn't answer so we were about to get into our car and then this guy said hello to us and asked us what we were up to. We started talking to him and explained that we're missionaries and asked if he wanted to learn more and he said "Why not" So we started teaching him on his porch and then his mom pulled up in her car and came and we started teaching her as well. They asked us if we could have a closing prayer and for the address of the church. They also want us to come back and keep teaching them. THIS NEVER HAPPENS! We just got 2 new investigators! We then had to run back to our house to get our phone and talked to another lady on the street, taught her about the restoration and prayer and got a return appointment with her! Miracles! Heavenly Father is so mindful of us. 

Friday we had interviews with President. THANK GOODNESS. I just feel so much better after interviews. He just makes me feel like I'm doing a good job and that I need to stop stressing so much. I'm so grateful for him and his wife. We later went on exchanges with Stirling and Sister Shumway came here with me. We decided to go stop by our new investigators and we get in there and they bring up the fact that they have been thinking about baptism and one of them wants to be baptized! Me and Sister Shumway were in shock! He asked "Is there a way for me to change? Is it possible for me to be baptized?" I WAS SO HAPPY. There is a way to change and prepare for baptism and its called the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So many good things. 

Saturday we finished our exchange, helped the Stirling sisters prepare for their baptism and then dyed eggs with some members. It was so fun!! Also we had dinner with a lady that we stopped teaching a few weeks ago and she talked to us about how we've helped her and that there will be a lot of people that miss us when we're gone. I always appreciate when people tell me that. We were walking home that night and another man just pulled over and told us how much we've been helping his family as well. It just gave me the boost that I needed. 

I'm not going to go into a lot of details about Sunday because it honestly just wasn't that good. I was disappointed because I was expecting a really good Easter Sunday but it was kind of an epic fail to top of a crazy week.  But I am grateful for my Savior and His atonement and Resurrection. Because of those things we can overcome spiritual and physical death and that brings so much peace an joy into my life. We're very blessed to know these things.

The mission is just so up and down but I still think its worth it. Thanks for all the support. I love you all! 

Love 

Sister M.

#becauseofhim

Hello! How is everything going?? Easter is this week! How great is that?? We get to focus our thoughts more on our Savior and the atonement.  So here's my invitation this week everyone should go to lds.org and watch the new video called Because of Him its sweet! And perfect for Easter.  So remember how last week we just decided to stay in Taber for P-Day.....not the best idea we've ever had. I love Taber but its not like there's a whole lot going on here....the whole town disappears on the weekends and goes to Lethbridge so we should have followed their example and left for Lethbridge on P-Day. So we stayed here, went to a park because the weather was SO nice. 20 degrees Celsius and was reading in the park. We ended up taking a nap and then a bee stung Sister Mortensens leg! Which is not that big of a deal but she's ALLERGIC. Yup. Her leg swelled up and started to do this weird blister thing and it was just horrible. The whole week was kind of rough because her leg was in so much pain. We did have dinner with a family that we've helped reactivate that night and it just boosted my mood to see their progression. They now want to share the gospel with their friends and family. We also met with a lady that we've never met with before thats been inactive her whole life. She was the nicest lady ever! I just wish these people would realize that their life would have so much more meaning and happiness if they lived the gospel.  The next day we went and did service for the ladies we met on the street the previous week. They were great! We just helped wash their windows and then they asked us about what we do as missionaries and we just shared things with them on what we teach people it was really good. They were super sweet as well and made sure to make us hot chocolate and not coffee haha it made me laugh. OH I ALSO FORGOT TO TELL YOU WHAT HAPPENED THAT MORNING! Oh it was awful. This isn't related to missionary work but it just tells you again that me and Sister Mortensen had a rough week hahaha oh boy. So at the beginning of my mission I was having stomach pains and then I just stopped drinking milk and had stopped up until last week. I decided to buy some milk, I bought some and that was a horrible decision. I got super bad pains again and threw up right before service. I'm sorry if that was too much info but now I just look back and laugh because I felt super sick and Sister Mortensen couldn't walk hahaha too funny.  We taught Mardy and it was sweet. He's been struggling with knowing that President Monson is a prophet we went back to the basic principle of faith and how faith is whats going to help him get his answer.  Wednesday was sweet! We had our Zone Training Mtg and me and Sister Mortensen trained on developing our faith to find. We role-played a lot of street contacting as well. We then came back and guess what we did?? Yup street contacting and it was actually pretty good. Not a lot of people out on the streets but we did find a lot of potentials that want us to come back! We also had this inactive member call us the day before and told us that he wants to meet with us. We had a sweet lesson! We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and tried to help him with his concerns and then he prayed at the end. I love hearing simple heartfelt prayers from these people who haven't talked with their Heavenly Father in a long time, makes me realize that I need to put more effort into my prayers.  Thursday I traveled out to Medicine Hat to go on exchanges with Sister Hernandez-Alfaro she's awesome! She's been out for 9 weeks and is just a fire-ball. We were so busy and she was always asking me how she could improve. Thats such a good attitude to have. Always asking what we can do to improve. On Friday we had to language study and as she studied her english she made me read out of her Spanish Book of Mormon, I was surprised by how many words I remembered from my Spanish classes in Jr. High. It made me wish I could speak a different language though. She can speak 4! Spanish, Portuguese, French and English. So crazy. Saturday we decided to walk everywhere, We got a lot done but it was really cold and snowy in the morning. I'M STARTING TO THINK THAT THE SNOW WILL NEVER GO AWAY. Thats okay though. Its all good. I just miss summer haha.  On Sunday we had 2 of our investigators at church and I felt like all the talks were specifically for them. It was awesome. I really tried to focus in on the sacrament prayers and it just made me really appreciate the atonement and the fact we get to renew our covenants every week.  I hope you all have a great Easter week! I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all the amazing people in my life. I feel very blessed!  love  Sister M Sister Martin and Sister Mortensen on their P-Day enjoying the warm weather. :)

Want to learn more about what I believe? 
Want to meet with the missionaries? 

Visit mormon.org and go up to the top and click on visit! 

I'm a Mormon.

Words from our Prophets

Hey friends and family!

How is everyone doing?? Wasn't conference amazing?? So good! 

This past week definitely had its ups and downs..kind of more downs then ups but that's just what happens and honestly its the little tender mercies that keep me going. 

We taught one of investigators this past week and it was sweet! We taught the Word of Wisdom and the spirit was so strong when we were teaching. When the spirit is there and you are teaching out of love then you can be as bold as you need to be. He said that he's going to keep on trying and that he completely understands the doctrine of it which is awesome. We then went and did service in Barnwell as our whole district which was fun. We helped at this community senior dinner and I just love seniors! They're all so cute! 

Wednesday we had to drop one of our investigators, she's just not progressing as much as she should be and her desire isn't really there. She's an awesome lady though and I just have a positive peaceful feeling that this isn't the end for her, she's felt the spirit so strongly in some of our lessons and one day she'll remember that and want to come back and learn more. We're receiving a lot more referrals from the ward lately which is SWEET. It shows that the members trust us and it gives us more opportunities to find people. That's what our mission is focusing on this month is Developing the Faith to Find. Which is perfect because thats what me and Sister Mortensen are focusing on is finding more people here in Taber. 

We walked all day Wednesday and hopefully with it getting warmer more people will come out because as of now its pretty much just me and Sister Mortensen walking the streets of Taber. I'm definitely definitely not in Calgary. Its fun trying to figure out how to do missionary work in all these different areas. 

On Thursday we helped a lady with her new house. We got to rip wall-paper down and do some other fun things. Do you want to know why I really love service out here on my mission? Because I get to wear jeans! Its the best! hahaha but really service is great because we just get to love the people. I've learned a lot about charity on my mission which I'm super grateful for. 

So on Friday we got to go up to Calgary and guess who I got to see?!? Sister Blommaert! Yup she's a Sister Training Leader and is just doing so good! I'm so proud of her! It was the first time seeing her since I trained her. 8 months....thats so long! It was so good to see her, as well as Sister Doty. MLC was really good as well. We talked about finding more people in the mission and then President Nicholas came out with some new Standards of Excellence. Its going to really push our mission to work more effectively and I think we're going to see a lot of good things come from it. I really appreciate how much President Nicholas takes what we say at MLC into consideration, he shows so much respect to all of his missionaries. I've learned a lot from him as well. It was good to see the city again :) I heard that Andy and Kenora are doing really well which makes me happy and I got a cute little package from a family in Chestermere they sent me a scarf and a cute little note. It was completely unexpected and made me grateful for the friendships I still have from my old areas.  

Saturday and Sunday we're just spiritually filling. We're so blessed to have a prophet on the earth and to know that he's speaking from God. I really enjoyed Elder Nelsons talk on faith and Elder Ballards talk with Following up. We had a neat experience during the sessions when we were walking back to apartment for lunch. We were trying to contact a referral but they weren't home and we saw an older lady taking her groceries in. So I walked over and grabbed some of her groceries out of her truck and offered to help. She was soooo grateful for our help! I invited her to conference but she declined but did take a mormon.org card. I didn't know if anything would come of it but this morning her sister called and left us a message! She said how kind we were for helping her and that she wants us to come over so she can meet us. Good things happen when we do service! 

I love you all and am so grateful for your example to me! I hope you all have a great week! 

Love 

Sister M.

Sister Blommaert and Sister Martin!

Sister Martin and Sister McDade! 

Sister Doty, Sarah and Sister McDade.

Hey everyone! 

I hope you have spring weather because I think Canada doesn't believe in spring. Its kind of sad but I think I'll get over it....maybe...or just throw a fit. 

So I want to share a cool experience before I forget. I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants 6:14 and it just really hit me. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou has inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place where thou art at this time." 

It just reminded me of my experience of deciding to come on a mission and the spirit again confirmed to me that I'm supposed to be here in the Canada Calgary Mission at this time and more specifically in Taber. Especially with transfers just happening, I'm grateful I got to stay here. President said this was one of the biggest transfers that he's ever seen and literally everyone got moved around. Obviously there is a reason we're supposed to be here. 

I was grateful I got to look back and reflect on a year and a half ago and making that decision to serve a mission. Its the best decision I've ever made and its changed my life forever. I'm grateful for the relationship I've been able to have with my Savior.

So on Thursday some members invited us over for lunch and we roasted hot dogs by Old Man River. These members are awesome and told us a lot about there friends and we'll hopefully be able to meet some and share the gospel with them. We stopped by our investigator to let him know we're staying in Taber and he was so happy! He wanted to immediately know when our next lesson is. I might have said this already but he told us that he's down to half a pack of cigarettes a day, a huge improvement from 2 packs a day. The gospel gives us strength through the power of the Atonement. 

So the Womens broadcast was awesome! Oh my goodness the whole thing was so spiritual and inspiring, we had a dinner at the church with the whole stake before and I saw a few non-members and less-active members that came so hopefully they enjoyed it as well. I thought it was interesting that it was on covenants again because the Relief Society broadcast last October was all on making and keeping covenants. I'm glad they're emphasizing how important they are. Also I had a neat experience after the broadcast with some of the ladies in my ward here in Taber. It made me so grateful for the people here and for them specifically for making me feel like I have family here in Taber. I'm very blessed. 

I was so excited for Sunday! Oh my goodness, sometimes I'm worried for Sundays because they're so long sometimes with so much church and fast sunday makes them seem longer but for some reason I was just excited for both wards and to be able to fast and receive revelation for this upcoming week of conference. We had our investigator there and he is awesome! We taught him Sunday night and he's had a really rough life. He's one of the guys that just randomly showed up to church last week. He thought that the church would have answers to his questions and help him find happiness. Oh how right he was! He's so prepared for the gospel its crazy! He's excited for conference this weekend and wants to invite his girlfriend so maybe we'll be able to start teaching her as well! 

So things are going pretty well. I know that Heavenly Father is really helping us here in Taber. I love it!

I hope you all have a good week:) 

love you all!

Love

Sister M.

(4/1/14)

Sister Mortensen, CJ and Sister Martin