Elder Ballard and Pictures

Hello Everyone!

So First of all I sent 0 pictures last week and not that many the week before so I'm going to send you as many as I possibly can from these weeks sorry about that! But you should all know that this week while it was also one of the slowest I've even been on in my mission it was also one of the most blessed. Elder Ballard came and I shook his hand and looked into his eyes and felt his spirit. I want you all to know what a powerful testimony I have of the leaders in this church. They truly are called of God. This is His church and while he is waiting for us to become ready He has sent his authorized servants on the Earth to guide and direct us. Being in the presence of an apostle is a joyous experience and you can truly feel the power in his very being. I'll be forever grateful for the chance we had to hear him speak and for him to look right at me as he answered the question I had brought in preparation. God lives and He loves us. He loves us so much that He sent the apostles and first presidency to lead us. They are inspired and I love them. I hope you know that if there is ever any doubt in your mind about who they are and the sacred calling they bare you can pray about it. Just like any other part of this gospel you can pray about the reality of living day prophets and apostles and I can promise you God will answer. And He will tell you that they are His.

I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of Elder Ballard and the pictures I do have are a bit random. But guess what? I saw a Turtle this week! I almost ran over it and panicked! You'll all be glad to know that even though Turtles, birds, squirrels, and new converts have all had moments this week where they got to close to my moving car I did not hit anyone or anything this week. This has been a blessing. The red mini you see is our mission leader's car. I tried my first bubble tea last week. That was really good too. And there was this full sized pillow I almost bought at Walmart... not really. I don't have room for a pillow that big but it was fun to hug. (Also that same Walmart trip they were playing Star Wars 7 in the electronic section. I literally glanced at the screen for three seconds, realized what it was and then turned around put my hands over my eyes and asked sister Chen to guide me away. I was kind of proud of myself for that actually.)

Okay this is just part one I'll get the rest out in just a minute.

But I do hope you all know how much I love you. How much God loves you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So we also ran into the local Mennonites... I think that's how you spell it. We raced the STL's to Ballard's conference. (We won because sister Skinner knows how to be patient on the Free way) We cleaned out our freezer, and drove a lot... like seriously we drove like... 300 miles this week. So we needed gas too. (They don't have that convenient little handle holder here in Canada, it's against the law so you have to sit there and hold it yourself. It probably is safer... oh well.)

So some pictures from last, last week as well as this week. Me with sister Chen in our sweaters and coats because the apartment is cold. Me with a dear member who's going to Montreal for a long time, an English investigator who is just standing there holding a table single handedly, our visit with sister Penrod, (Who is now home... what?), my little casers break down that neither of my companions complained about, and the three different kinds of milk we drink in the house. 2%, chocolate, and Soy.

More pictures! My favorites being from the Krispy Kreme visit with all the sisters!

 

It's Raining Blessings

Hello Everyone!

So a lot happened this week which was both up and down but that's fairly usual. But some of the cool stuff that happened primarily happened on Saturday... the day that it was periodically pouring sheets of water from the heavens. This was also the day that we had five hours of tracting scheduled. The people in Canada are very kind even if they don't answer when you knock they will open the door when you are suddenly huddled together under your porch trying to get away from the torrential rain. So we did actually get into some houses this week a first for me when it comes to tracting. We actually met this one lady by the name of Sherry. We ended up at her house just in time for the longest and fiercest of the down pours started coming. We stayed and her house for two hours and taught the restoration, the word of wisdom, learned about her life and invited her to come to church. It was a fantastic experience and the spirit was so strong in her home. We hope and pray to see her again. Also since we taught her all through our dinner time and got home around 8:15 I broke down finally and went to the Little Cesar's right next to our house and finally had that pizza I've been craving all transfer.

Other significant events that happened this week. Were some very good member present lessons with the branch president and his wife and the Elder's quorum president they were fantastic. We also had people coming up to us in church and asking if they could come to our lessons this week which was really cool. We just wish we had more lessons for them to go to! Finals are now over for the summer and that means two weeks break for the over worked college students and that also means they are ALL leaving. Emerson, Robin, and Jim all left, Or well Emerson will leave this week, and it was so hard saying goodbye to them. We know that they are all going to do so well in the three different places they are all going but it's so sad to see them go.

Oh! We also had a brief visit with sister Penrod who is going home this transfer but she was on exchanges and she and sister Tyler stopped by to 'inspect the apartment'. It was good to see her again even if it was just for a short minute.

We had transfer calls last night, which didn't really tell us anything new, President Shields did confirm though that I'm going to be training next week. So... Yah I'm mildly terrified, a little grateful, and a extremely humbled. I remember how much sister Liao and sister Penrod helped me in my training and I hope I can do at least half as well as they did. I owe them so much and I pray that I'll be able to help this new sister understand everything they were able to teach me as well.

Things are going well. God really is looking out for all of us and He knows our situations. Things keep moving forward and we'll keep on going. There are going to be hard days, there are going to be road blocks, there is going to be people who don't understand... but there is always hope, love, faith. We are not alone. Never have been.

I love you all and I pray for you and your safety and your welfare.

-Sister Skinner

Understanding and Not Knowing What to Say

 

Hello Everyone!

Sometimes I start these letters and I know exactly what I need to talk about and what I should say and what part of the weeks should be highlighted... and then there are weeks like this where I stare blankly at my computer screen and wonder what I could possibly write in such a short amount of time that could encompass all the things that I've felt this week.

So lets start with last P-day, doing it on Tuesday's instead of Monday's makes the whole week feel out of sync but it turned out okay. Everyone is in the midst of their finals and test preparation and that meant we only had 8 investigator lessons this week which was really sad. But we're excited for the coming week and we're going to be working really hard to talk to as many people as possible and hopefully ride on the just-finished-my-test-high and keep it going to I-just-realized-that-my-Father-in-Heaven-is-real-and-He-loves-me-high. That's the goal and we're going to keep it going! We did more tracting this week and we ended up talking to some less active families from the family ward who we'll be stopping by in the coming week so were super excited about that. We also had Zone Council this week! YAAY! Having the whole zone together is always so much fun and we learned a lot about the importance of how to begin teaching, and really relying on the Book of Mormon in every meeting and appointment.

And now for the Highlight... ROBIN GOT BAPTIZED!!! He bore such a beautiful testimony about looking for peace and it was just so humbling to be sitting there listening and feeling the spirit so strongly. God answers prayers and he knows what we need both inside and out. He will not leave us alone in the world, there is always someone out there who is willing to help.

This week was just filled with little moments where the spirit touched me so deeply. Sharing the first vision to Emerson to start off his new member lessons, and just knowing in that moment that Joseph Smith is a prophet, studying about how to help others believe in God and getting a powerful witness that God will let them that seek Him know that He is there, walking down the street in the sunlight and in the rain and still feeling just so blessed for every single moment.

So many miracles are around each of us everyday. Acts of service are amazing things to watch and see. Being able to be one of the one's who can give is an even grater miracle.

I struggled and times this week too. There were moments of frustration, towards myself, and pain, pain for others, People choosing not to accept the Gospel in their lives is heartbreaking, but it hurts even more knowing that you were the one who was supposed to tell them what a great blessing this is, and as they tell you they don't want more you just feel like a failure, because if they knew what the Atonement of Christ meant to them, and if they truly understood that they can only fully utilize that atonement when they accept baptism they wouldn't turn away. But they don't. And that's your fault. Painful as it is, these experiences make those moments where the light really does turn on in their eyes that much more meaningful. I don't think I've ever understood more the desire to be able to declare the gospel more. Listen, Please, God Himself is reaching out to you please! Listen!

This is the Church of Christ. It's not just a social institution, this is the Kingdom of God on the earth again and Christ is as it's head. He loves you! He loves you so perfectly that He died! Not only did He die He rose again! Do you understand what that means? Not just that you too will live again but that you are not confined to be the person you are now? That you can be happy now and still hope for more joy as life goes on? Do you understand the significance of repentance? Of that moment where you can say that you are clean?

Do you understand why we go to church every week? Do you understand the importance of sitting in Sacrament meeting and then staying for the rest of the meetings? Do you understand why we pay tithing, why we don't swear, why we live the word of wisdom?

Do you understand? Because I don't.

Maybe if I did I could help you understand too.

But here is what I do know.

There is a God.

He loves me.

He loves you too.

Because He loves us He has asked us to do certain things so that we can live with Him again.

Because He loves me I know that I will be able to understand everything someday.

Because He loves you, he will not condemn either of us for not understanding everything right away.

Because He loves us, all of us, we don't have to be perfect now. We just need to try, and then expect to succeed.

He is our success, He is our light, He is our Hope.

And He loves you.

That's what I know.

That's what I understand.

I hope you can too.

I love you all, He loves you more,

Try to understand,

-Sister Skinner

 

 

Perspective after a long week

 

Hello Everyone!

So P-Day Tuesday's are always fun but it does mean that it feels like I haven't emailed in forever! Still There was a lot that happened.

First of starting back last P-day we went with a member and took a hike! Fun stuff, it was beautiful and besides the random people playing pokemon Go everywhere it really reminded me of all the beautiful blessings that God has given us. There is so much to be grateful for we just have to keep looking around.

So as the week went on we did not have as many lessons as we would have liked primarily because it's finals season for the summer semester and UofW and that means super stressed out college students who don't even want to meet for 20 minutes let alone go to church. Still we had five investigators a church a couple days ago and Emerson got the Holy Ghost and Robin passed his baptismal interview! We're super excited for both of them! We're going to see the baptisms keep coming! Also on Sunday, because the Chinese missionaries have been teaching gospel principles to the Chinese class for the last month (What do you do when all the teachers go inactive?) but we really don't have time to prepare a whole church lesson every week and so it's really been a struggle but we've got an awesome ward council and they all put their heads together and figured out what we could do. So for the time being gospel principles is now a bilingual class! With English and Chinese getting thrown around and us missionaries doing translating rather than actual teaching! It was a lot of fun and we're really excited for it!

So also things that happened this week. Tracting... Lots of it. But that was fun too. You never know who's on the other side of the door. Especially when they've got a Buda and a virgin Mary statue side by side. (Okay so we didn't knock that one this week but I keep forgetting to mention it.) Still lots of fun. Also happening this week was exchanges and I really don't understand Spanish but that's okay! We had a great time anyways. We were on the freeway when the rain just downed on us, a Dog jumped into our car, and we contacted less actives!

On the more spiritual side of things I'm really working right now on trying to improve what I can and not get discouraged by what I can't. Yesterday was up and down. We got dropped by an new investigator who was doing so well but after talking to her parents they were not happy that she had been to church. I had been having a rough morning already due to a rough sleep the night before, and so after talking to her for a little bit we went to get ice-cream with our member present in an effort to cheer ourselves up, that part was pretty good, but then coming right back out we found out that I had miss parked and ended up with a parking ticket. That was my bad. Still that was not the highlight of my day. I also accidentally ended a lesson prematurely because I didn't understand what the investigator was asking.

Still by the end of the day I was just grateful for my companions and for the chance to be out here in Canada. It wasn't even really a bad day it was just a day and that's the interesting part. We get to choose to see how to see every day, and I know that God will keep blessing us for our efforts. Maybe we could have worked harder yesterday but we just have to do what we can and let God make up the rest.

I'm working on that. Always will be. But that's a relief in a way because that means I'm also always improving.

Life is good. There is so much to be grateful for! and God is our loving Father in Heaven. He knows us perfectly. Isn't that beautiful?

Love you all and I pray for you all!

-Sister Skinner