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!

Count Your Blessings

Hello Everyone!

This week has gone by so fast and there were a lot of things learned and lessons shared. 

I'm not even sure where to start so forgive me if this letter is all over the place! So one of the big differences between here and Kitchener is that there's no one place where all the chinese people gather. So that means we have to go about trying to find people through other ways. The three big ones I've seen work so far is ESL (English as a Second Language), Badminton Friday nights, and member referrals. To get people to come to the first two we basically go to any busy intersections and we post flyers on as many light poles as we can. This city is just covered in ESL flyers and we have our chinese badminton flyers floating around too. That being said we have had some really good success from both of those activities this week and it's been great being able to find new investigators. We also open our mouths in all places. We've had some success at the local campus but the only problem we have with that is that we have to hike into campus. and I'm not kidding when I say hike. All the campus parking is ridiculously expensive and so we park in the local city park about fifteen minutes away and then hike up a hill and go through a gap in the fence to get to campus. So unless we already have a lesson on campus or we have a least two hours in a row to go contact we are rarely on campus. On another side note we've been driving way to much this transfer. We have a girl by the name of Joy who is 20 minutes away by car that would get baptized but is 17 and her mom is currently not taking her seriously. This is a problem we've been working on and praying for a LOT in the last week or so because she is so ready the only problem is she doesn't want to upset her mom. Still having to meet with her three times a week means that in the last 7 days we've driven 600Ks roughly 370 miles with going back and forth so much. 

So yes we were in the car a lot last week. 

Sister Penrod was also super sick this last week to the point of getting dizzy during lessons. But she's been both inspiring and frustrating in her drive and her desire to keep on working. Luckily she's on the mend now which was such a miracle and such a blessing. 

We've taught so many good lessons this week. We've been able to meet so many good people. I feel so blessed just to say that God really is looking out for us. I know He lives and that there are people here that are going to be so blessed by the message that we carry. I'm so grateful for that reality. 

Also back in Kitchener. JIM GOT BAPTIZED!!! Even if the record states that the elders were the ones who baptized him it was sister Liao and I who found him and I'm so happy for him!

I also got to go to a baptism this week, even if it wasn't ours. It was a little old lady from Nigeria who doesn't speak English and was taught though her daughter translating everything the missionaries taught to her. But her face just lights up when she's in the church and she was radiant at the baptism... Which is a good thing because looking back at the baptism so many things that could have gone wrong did. The reason we went to this baptism is because one of our recent converts Shyce was the one who was going to do the baptism. He speaks English but he was freaking out the entire time. While practicing before hand he actually dropped the little old lady on the ground, and while in the font they took five minutes just trying to figure out where to stand. The baptism that had to happen twice because Aregash (The little old lady) just let herself float the first time and the second time he held her down for so long that sister Penrod looked away. After helping Aregash get out of the font Shyce also slipped down the stairs himself and belly flopped right into the water with a huge splash. But then when they all came out Aregash had a white dress on and looked absolutely on top of the world and the spirit came rushing back as we were all reminded that it's not the ceremony but the ordinance that matters. She bore a simple but beautiful testimony and it was such a faith building reminder that the gospel is for everyone the young and the old. (Oh, and to top it all off President Clayton was there too)

 

 

Really this week was a week of miracles both big and small and I'm grateful for the chance I have to be serving with both sister Penrod and sister Chen. 

We'll keep pressing forward!

Love,

Sister Skinner