Mon, Apr 13, 2015 ~The Sky is Bigger in Canada~

Hola everyone,

WOW! It has been a crazy full week in Canada! There is always so much to do, and never enough time. But I'm so grateful to be part of this amazing work and share my testimony every single day. People reject me all the time, but all is well because I know that I am sharing the most important message that these people will ever hear. I wish more people would take the time to listen. Haha this week has definitely been a week full of laughter. I love both of my companions so much. They are incredible missionaries and have such powerful testimonies. One of the best parts of being in the trio is the constant laughter!! Haha, we always laugh when Hermana Cobb pulls a pepper out of her purse or when we hear the crunch of a cucumber from the back seat...we like to call these moments "Cobb probs". Haha...and they happen on a daily basis. Haha and for Hermana Johnson...she is obsessed with cats. Why?  I have no idea. But she is pro at making cat noises. Our new favorite thing to do is sing some gospel raps as we are tracting. Haha...yesterday we were doing a nice harmony while knocking on a door. She took a long time to answer the door so we had lots of time to come up with a sweet rap. It went something like, "hey hey hey (all in different pitches) so you should be baptized. this is the truth. your family can be forever so you should be baptized baptized baptized).  Right as we finished the lady opened the door. Hermana Cobb and I looked at each other and lost it. We could not pull ourselves together. So Hermana Cobb had to dismiss herself while I tried my best to testify with Hermana Johson.Canada has the MOST amazing sky ever. It's huge and this week it hasn't been cloudy so it looks like it goes on forever! Golden hour reflecting over the docks, mountains, and trees is amazing!! Oh and Dad, I get to see Whistler (ski resort) lit up on the mountain every night on our drive home! Pretty sweet!!

So yeah, there have been so many miracles this week. One night we were supposed to have two lessons with investigators, but both of them fell through. So we decided to go tracting. We were diligent and tried to find those people on our records without numbers. We went to this place looking for Sara, but Hermana Cobb remembered a different family that spoke Spanish in that same area so we gave it a shot. His name is Guerralla from El Salvador and he really wasn't interested at first, but as we all bore testimony we could feel the Spirit so strong. We were praying our little heart out that his heart would change. It was amazing, we did see his heart change instantly. He began to cry and opened up to us. I have never witnessed anyone being so overcome by the Spirit. He said, "I can't talk right now...I don't know why." We will hopefully visit him this next week. The Spirit really can change the hardest of hearts. Another cool story happened when we were finding. We always pray so hard to find Latinos because there is hardly any in Canada...at least that we know of. But we tracted into a family this week ....a mom and 3 kids! Her name is Ana and she is so sweet! I'm so excited to get to meet with them again! She was so excited when she found out that there was church in her language!

So basically Hermana Cobb is a poet. Here are a few things she has said this week. "This life is the climax of our eternity." and "When it comes to dreams...just go for it. You might not get to your dream, but the journey along the way will become the dream." So good. It's all about living for right now...enjoying every moment...loving each day..and embracing every adventure! 

Hermana HoT, Hermana Cobb, Hermana Johnson

My absolute favorite moment happened when we were contacting at Surrey Central. We were about to cross the road when a homeless lady caught my attention. I felt prompted to go and talk to her. So Hermana Johnson and I taught her about the Book of Mormon and she was so happy to learn about it. Haha...she definitely wasn't all the way there, but she was so excited to have the FULL truth and some new friends. So now I have a new friend named Shelly. Before we left, we asked if we could say a prayer with her. Haha, she hurried and got on her knees and held out her hands. So there we were on our knees holding hands with a homeless lady in Surrey Central. During my prayer, I said "please bless Shelly" and then she interrupted my prayer and said, "and bless sister Johnson and Sister....HERMANA???? WHAT'S THAT???" Haha in a whisper I told her it was Spanish for Sister and then she was like, "Oh Spanish....do you know what buenas tardes means??" Haha yeah "good afternoon" then I continued on "please bless Shelly..." Haha. Then after that we were talking to someone else a little ways away from Shelly. But as soon as she noticed we were talking to someone else she yells, "Listen to them!!! It's true!!!". Haha so funny. 

Another funny moment was when we knocked on a random door and this man in short shorts and a long stringy, white beard answers the door. Before we had he chance to say anything he was like, "uhhh...I don't think I'm interested." We didn't know what to say. I can just picture all of us standing there with huge grins on our faces in disbelief that someone rejected us before we stated our purpose. The only thing that came out was a little laugh "he he" from Hermana Cobb before he closed the door. I died. It was so funny.  

A really special moment for me this week was when I finally got the courage to talk to people at Surrey Central all by myself. It was so crazy and hard. There was one girl that really wanted to have an argument with me. It's in those moments when they are teaching you more than you are teaching them that you have to walk away. I just bore my testimony of truth and said have a nice day. But no worries...that didn't get me down. I walked to this man and tried talking to him, but he was deaf and couldn't talk or anything. So I pulled out a picture of Jesus and pointed to mormon.org on the back of the card. He was so thrilled that someone paid attention to him and cared enough to put in the effort to talk to him. It was so cool. 

My first time in the Latino ward was a success!! I can't really understand all that much, but the people are so loving and have such strong testimonies! It is a huge ward!!! And the members that we have been able to visit are always so loving. They think it's insulting if you don't take anything to eat while you are there so we always get really yummy food. Oh my goodness...and no one can say my name. So I am now officially Hermana Hot. I should order a name tag with my new name. They think it's so funny that my last name is "caliente" or "hot" in Spanish. 

The most important lesson I have learned this week is that faith is an action word. If you have faith in God..it's not enough just to say so. You must show it. I have to show that I am dedicated to this work and willing to talk to everyone. The moments that I show my faith, the Lord blesses us so much! He gives us opportunities to teach and testify. My favorite thing to tell people is that they need to try finding out if this gospel is true for themselves. I'm not here to convince them what to believe, but to share what I know is true. It is there job...and your job...to find out for yourself if this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Show your faith, show your desire to learn more, and to find truth, and God WILL let you know that it's true. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Hermana HoT