No Time to Title

If I don't respond to anybody this week, I'm sorry. I don't really have any time, but I wanted to write an email that is intended for the general public this week. Because, yeah, the emails Mom has been giving people for the past few weeks were just for her. Don't think she knew that. (I love you, Mom!)

Missionary life is crazy. It's like a constant back and forth between having everything and nothing to do. Today, for example, we have everything to do and people keep calling us to ask us to do more things AND it's p-day. But then on another day everybody will refuse to answer their phones and doors and we don't really get any lessons in. 

What we've really improved on this week is street contacting. It is freaky to go out and talk to random strangers. And there's this myth that it isn't effective, so we didn't do ANY street contacting for the first week, but then we had exchanges and learned more about street contacting from the STLs. It's true that it isn't as effective as referrals from members, but it can still be impressively effective. Since we started street contacting after that, we have had several really powerful experiences with people who aren't all that interested at first, but then we testify and they are interested enough to take a Book of Mormon and promise to read it. (And give us their numbers. Seriously, that takes a definite prompting from the Spirit because I know I wouldn't hand out my number to a stranger unless I was convinced she was a servant of God. Or, you know, a government authority. That would probably be a good idea.)

I know that this gospel is the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that this is His church. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, given to us for our benefit and the benefit of those around us. People challenge that conviction all the time, and I am so glad to have the opportunity to have my testimony challenged so that I can look at everything from a new angle and see that, yes, it is still true.

Dunno if any of that made sense. I was going to attach pictures, but I have no time. Love you all!

Safe Arrival!

My mom, who is keeping this blog updated for me during my mission, usually waits on my instructions before posting anything here. But she couldn't resist putting up this picture, without my sayso. I probably haven't even seen it yet, but when I do, I'll laugh because you can tell to look at me that I got up in the deathly hours of the morning. However, I have safely arrived in Winnipeg, and you can also tell that I'm glad to be here. Two other missionaries arrived with me and we are here with President and Sister Craig.

Tonight is dinner and a testimony meeting at the President's home. Tomorrow morning is orientation, and then I meet my companion.

LAST DAY IN THE MTC!!!

The Sisters in my District

The MTC keyboards are awful. In light of that fact, please forgive the brevity of this post and the probable profusion of typos.

The View from our Classroom Window

I'M ALMOST OUT! I leave tomorrow morning at 2:30am. Yeah. I think that might kill me. But I am really excited to leave. At this moment. I'll probably start freaking out again in a few hours, but right now I just want to go out and serve. I didn't come on a mission for the MTC. I have learned a lot of wonderful things, but there are a lot of things I can't learn here. It's a lot like the premortal life, in my opinion. 

Agh, I don't know what to say. The MTC is hard. I think the hardest thing about it is just facing all my imperfections. I love perfection. And I guess I knew I wasn't perfect before I came here, but I was comfortable with where I was at. I'm not anymore. I could go through my whole mission just as I am right now, and I think I could be a good missionary, but the Lord expects more from me. He expects my best. And I think I've managed to float through life on something less than that.  I need to up my game now that I'm going out on the front lines.

 Sister Kent and our wonderful TRC investigator, Hsin Pei

Sorry. I don't think I'm making a lot of sense. It's sort of hard to concentrate in a laundry room. 

Doing laundry with Sis. Toomey

The family came down for General Conference, which was wonderful. I loved Conference, even if it meant sitting in hard chairs for ten hours. Conference is different as a missionary, when you're looking for answers to so many questions. Your own or your investigators. 

They sent me a package while they were down here, which I also loved. And they wrote all sorts of wonderful notes in the journal they sent me, which I ran around showing everyone in my room until they were ready to strangle me. 

Now I must leave. Love you all.

The Two Canadian Sisters in my Zone