We have Mountains to Climb and Rivers to Cross

Hello Everyone!

So I hit six months this week. What a weird experience that was. Do you know what else is weird? For the first time in five months I'm not wearing tights. That's right! It's finally warmed up here in eastern Canada! It's a beautiful 75 Degrees Fahrenheit today and sister Chen and I are enjoying it!

So this week was an interesting one. The big things are of course that with out sister Penrod sister Chen and I are really having to strive in our languages. I do think that my Chinese has already improved so much in the last week alone! It's going to be so exciting to see where it is by the end of the transfer. I love sister Chen to pieces though! absolute pieces! She's so sweet and patient with me. I'm really so blessed here out in the mission. 

The next big thing this week was we had skills and interviews! The last one with President Clayton on the mission. He'll be leaving in July but he's going to the very end he's working as hard as he can. It was a great meeting and we all enjoyed it so very much. I learned so much about turning out ward and working on the people. Really seeing what they need rather than guessing. It was so good. 

The actual interview was good as week and in the end after a wonderful testimony from president and the closing prayer... President Clayton gave me his approval for Star Wars the Force awakens. He told me that it was worth waiting for. It was good to laugh with someone about that. 

Back into the area sister Chen and I spent most of this week working with the members and getting to know them. It was really good to reach out and connect with the people around us and I look forward to seeing them all reach the goal of regular temple attendance. Investigator wise this week was slower. We had to reschedule our appointment with the investigator family and we had to slow down with Chong a bit. But this coming week is going to have all that we can do in it! We're so excited to meet with the potentials we found this week and the people that we'll be working on!

Really it's a time of great hope and joy. There is so much to be thankful for and it's such a comfort to know that we have this chance to work with God in His work. There can be no greater reward and that's so cool!

I hope you all know how much I love and appreciate all of you. There's so many things that looking back I didn't realize how much those little experiences changed me until I got out into Canada and realized how truly blessed I am. You are all such great influences to me and I hope you know that!

God lives, and Christ is His Son, and the Holy Ghost testifies that this is true!

-Sister Skinner

 

 

Temples and Moving Forward

The ESL crew!  We love them!

Hello Everyone!

So this week was crazy... very crazy. To start with tracting is actually a thing now and we've actually found some success with it. We found a family who seem to be searching for the truth and it's so cool to see their desire to be together as they figure out the gospel. We finished transitioning in between the old and the new programs for ESL and it's been fun working with the groups. What we need now is some more member involvement but that'll come in time. 

We also got the transfer call this week. I was a wreck on Sunday I was so nervous. I think a big part of it was not really knowing where I wanted to be. But when the call finally came. It was sister Penrod leaving. Sister Chen and I will be staying in Mississauga while sister Penrod heads of to English work as a Sister Training Leader.... She's kind of up in the air about it right now, but she's going to do so great. 

I don't know there was so many little things that really changed me this week. I wore jeans on Saturday as we helped paint a house. We had warm sun and cold snow. We celebrated a members birthday and ended up with more food than we can eat in our fridge. We went to the temple and heard from our president the new member of the seventy. There were moments where we laughed together and moments where we all were freaking out. I wish I could describe the spirit felt this week and the joy found in the little moments. The sorrow for people choosing to go the wrong way and the joy at seeing them progress. I feel a bit like I'm in a tunnel carrying a torch I can see light a head and yet there are people around me who can't see that light and it's to them that I need to find. 

I guess in the end it's all about the movement though. We have to keep pressing forward. There's no other way. 

I hope you all know how much I love you. How much I appreciate every single one of you. There's so much to be hopeful for. 

Love,

Sister Skinner

The lovely sister Chen! and her rabbit face! She's amazing! 

Sister Liao, and the hermana's that we stayed with
 for my first couple transfers! Plus one but hey!

Nancy and Her cake!

The biggest breakfast plate ever!
 and where we ate after the temple.

And the fabulous sister Penrod and her impression of the
wicked queen with the apples given to us by members.

And then more apples!

Callings and Conference

Hello Everyone!

So the biggest news of this week is that our mission president got called to serve as a seventy! It was a serious moment of shock when we heard his name called and realized that our president was in Utah... getting set apart as a seventy. That had the whole mission in a buzz (we still are a bit up in the air right now actually) So yes, he'll stay as our mission president until July and then a new president, president Shields, will be taking over. It's kind of bitter sweet, at least in our apartment we all thought president was going to be around all the way to the end of our missions. Still it's also humbling to realize that I've personally been helped so much by president and that he is now going on to help even more people. 

Anyways this week seemed just to fly by! (I think that happens when P-day isn't on it's normal day.) But there were so many good things that happened this week and Conference was definitely the highlight of it all! (Also as a side note I haven't had the chance to listen to priesthood session but all the elders the next said it was very good and that president Uchtdorf mentioned Chewbacca from the podium... does that mean the leaders of the church are Star Wars fans too?) We were so blessed at conference and every single one of our investigators watched at least one session! It was so very good, and we were able to see the growth in the people around us. Brother Tian seemed so very touched and Chong said that he already knew that President Monson is a prophet of God. It was a day full of miracles. 

Besides that we also went on exchanges this week. Taught a lot of people and cleaned the apartment quiet a bit. Sister Penrod and Sister Chen help me so much it's hard to describe how grateful I am for them. I've grown a lot with the two of them as my companions and I'm so very grateful for them. 

I don't have too much to say this week but I do want you all to know that I know God lives and He loves us so very much. He gives us exactly what we need and when we need it. We can have what we want or we can have something better. God will mold us when we let Him and Though things change day by day that just means we have the opportunity to be better today then we were yesterday. 

I love you all. 

-Sister Skinner