August 29, 2016 P-Day #18

Hello hello!!!

This week has been busy busy busy and this coming week is only about to get busier because...NATHANS BAPTISM IS THIS SUNDAY!!! What?!?! I feel like I just met him and his family and now somehow all the lessons have been taught and he is ready to be baptized!!

The time really does fly! This is the beginning of week 4/6 of this transfer!

This week we met with Nathan a lot! We see them most days, for lessons, branch activities or just to check in! They truly are doing sooo great! Yesterday was Nathans 7th time in a row attending church.  He really is so ready for his baptism! For a ten year old he has such a strong spiritual awareness that is just amazing! He is always striving to do what is right and be the best he can!

This week we also picked up two new investigators! We found both them from looking through the records of former investigators and then going and stopping by!

1st Cecilla! She is an older lady who is currently a 7 day Adventist.  She has a strong love for the bible and has the desire to grow closer to God in any way she can! We taught her the beginning of the resto and invited her church...and she said yes...then she actually came!! WHAT! haha sorry! That just doesn't always happen so we were soooo excited that it did!

2nd: Rachel! She is in her mid twenties and a strong Anglican.  She is sooo sweet! We actually went over for a lesson, walked in and there were 3 of her friends there that she had told them about us and they wanted to be there for our lesson too! So that was super sweeeet! We were able to teach them all the beginning of the plan of salvation and more about their purpose here on earth and in life!  It was a great lesson! They are all soo fun and loved to be involved and talk about everything we were teaching(: We are going to meet with them all again this week!

This week we have also found another less active to work with! Her name is Janie and she is and elderly lady and completely just beyond sweet! We stopped by and introduced ourselves and she goes, "Ohhh more missionaries! Well come on in!!" We talked with her for about an hour and spent time getting to know her and sharing our testimonies of the church! She showed us a giant scrapbook she has of every single thing a missionary has ever given her! Pictures, every little card and even Mormon.org cards with just numbers or, appointment cards. She really does just love the missionaries soo  much! We are going back to meet with her again tomorrow and I am super excited to spend time with her and have the opportunity to work with her!

This week I have really been thinking about how lucky I am to be here. Right now.  At this exact time.  I am in St. Johns Newfoundland.  I am a missionary.  And while that is not always an easy thing, it is ALWAYS worth it.  I love these people so much! I cannot imagine life without them!  I am so happy to be here serving, learning and growing! I am a firm believer that a mission is not only for others, but also for the missionary.  I have grown in so many ways in just the short time I've been out and I know that there is sooo much more growth and learning yet to come! A mission provides experiences that can happen in no other circumstance and I am so glad that I am here experincing them(:

 I love you all so so so so much!! Have a wonderful week and smile all day everyday(:

xoxo

Sista Hird

August 22, 2016 P-Day #17

Good day beautiful people!!! Wow, I just love you all so so much and I just love being a missionary!

 This week was WONDERFUL!! We had three lessons with Nathan and his family this week which I always love so much!! Everytime I'm missing something about my family I go there and suddenly it doesn't seem too bad! Yesterday when we were there Natasha (the mom) said something super sweet that made me tear up! (which I do all the time by the way haha! My mission broke me!! I cry at EVERYTHING!! Angie... I finally understand the weeping problem...because I'm living with it!) She was holding her little one year old baby Favour and said, "it's really cool you were here when Favour took her first steps Sister Hird! Think of all the other firsts you'll see with my family!" And right then it really hit me, why I am out here. Whenever I am sad about the first steps I'm missing at home I remember that if I wasn't here I wouldn't even know the people here I have grown to love SO MUCH!!! It really put life in perspective for me! Which I needed this week(: I get my family for ETERNITY so while 18 months seems like a long  time now..in the eternal perspective it's not too bad!(;

Nathans Baptism is coming up so fast! Next week!! Next Saturday Nathan will be baptized!! I can't believe it! I am soooo excited for him!! It is going to be the best day ever! I'm not going to lie...I think I'm more excited than him haha!!!

This week we also did the best thing ever...Branch Babysitting Night!! Whaaa?? Confused? Missionaries aren't supposed to babysit...right? Right! But President Pratt is the best ever and felt that the parents in our branch have so many responsibilities and the only alone time they get is when the kids go to bed.  Which just wasn't cutting it for him! So once a month we get to play with the kids (with other adults of course and the senior missionary couple in the area) It's the best!! Kids were my life at home so being around them is just my favorite!! We also put on Frozen for the kids...so we got to watch parts! Blessed!!! I love that movie too much!  We also got to wear pants for this activity, so I wore jeans for the first time on my mission...if you can't tell I was a little excited!

Thank you all for the constant love and support!! I seriously don't know what I have done to deserve so many amazing people I am blessed to call family and friends!! You are my rock and I love you!!

Peace and blessings, peace and blessings

Sista Hird

Xoxo

Wearing Jeans as a Missionary!!  

August 15, 2016 P-Day #16

Hey hey!!

This week has been wonderfully busy!

With Nathans fast approaching baptismal date (19 days away YAY) we are meeting with them lots!! I LOVE it!! This week has been so great with them! Just in the past week I have been able to feel such a difference in their home!! It's amazing! We walk in  and the spirit is already there.  They have been at church for a month straight, they are doing daily family prayer and the difference it is making is so apparent! Yesterday at church Nathan's mom bore her testimony on the difference the gospel makes in life.  She talked about how since she has been less active over the past 4 years she has been missing so much and now she has it back and she loves it.  I am just so impressed and proud of her and the way she is changing her and her family's life.

Nathan is soooo ready to be baptized! HOLY! Every time I talk to him I am completely blown away! He knows so much and has such a strong desire to have the church in his life! I love being in their home and being able to be with them and see this progression take place!

We had a zone conference this week up in Gander so we got to get some training and guidance from President Pratt! He is just amazing!! He is such an inspired man and knows exactly how to help us be the best and most effective that we can be. I love any time we get to spend with him and Sister Pratt! They are such a blessing to the mission and my life (:

Our other investigator Angela is out of town these next two weeks, so we didn't get to meet with her! But she called us and let us know that she packed her Book of Mormon and is excited to read it while she is away(:

Sorry for the short letter this week!! This week was full of finding more people to teach and spending time with Nathan and his family!

Life is oh so good!! I love where I am and who I am working with!! 

-Sista Hird

August 8, 2016 P-Day #15

Hello hello world!!

This week has been busy and oh so great!

Sister Anderson left me Wednesday ( I only cried buckets of tears) and that was sad, but I know she will do so good in Sackville!! They obviously need her there(:

My new companion is Sister Lofgran! She is from Riverton, Utah. She has been out on her mission 1 year! I'm excited for all I can learn from her! It's going to be a good transfer!

This week we got to meet with Nathan twice! Holy! This boy is amazing!! He seriously is the best! He is so solid! He reads everything we leave with him and such a strong desire to learn and be baptized! We are almost done teaching him all the basic lessons and will then do the commandments and he is good to go! He really is so great!! I'm so happy to be able to see the change that is taking place in there home with the gospel influence! The whole family has bee with us at church for the past three weeks in a row! Sitting with them is like being home, cheerios crayons, and noise! It's the BEST!!

We also met with Angela this week! She is trying so hard to accept the change that the gospel will be in her life.  She has been catholic for 76 years, so change is hard for her.  But the longer we teach her the more she realizes that change has to occur and that she is willing to do it! We still have a long way to go, but I know that we will get there!

We got to visit Jaxcine this week...she is one of my favorite people in the whole world! She is a older woman who is a member and is in a assisted living facility.  She is not all the way there mentally, but let me tell you she makes my week every time we see her! She has bright purple hair, which she is changing to pink because that's my favorite(:  She loves all things Disney and tells me all about the people she needs to pray for "because they don't like Frozen, so obviously something is wrong in their head and they need Jesus" She tells me this about every time we go, she knows whats up(; We got to spend about an hour with her laughing and hearing all of her life advice for us! Goooood times!(:

Funny thing...you know me, whitest person alive. I have a tan line from my shoes...me! TAN! In Canada of all places! The blessings of the mission, am I right?!

Well, I love all of you soo soo much! Have the most magical week EVER!!

-Sista Hird 

Catholic Basilica

Royal Regatta Day Boat Races

Her first tan line :)

August 2, 2016 P-Day #14

Hello hello!! This week has flown by!! Holy!

Soooo Sister Anderson is leaving me :,( I am going to miss her so much!! She has impacted me in so many amazing ways! But I know that she will work wonders where she goes! I don't know who I am going to be with yet, but I know I am staying here in St.Johns! Which I am super happy about! I am going to be able to be here for Nathan, My 10 year old investigators baptism! #blessed

This week we met with Nathan and his family.  We do fhe with them every Monday night and it's my favorite!! Nathan is preparing to baptized on August 30th! So we are teaching them as much as we can to make sure that he is fully prepared for that date! We went over the Atonement with them and showed the children's bible video about it (if you haven't watched them yet DO IT NOW!! HOLY they are the cutest thing ever!! It's a series of like 10 gospel stories told by kids and I LOVE them)

I love that I have the opportunity right now, at the beginning of my mission to teach these kids! I am learning how to simply teach and testify of the gospel truths I know and hold dear! It's such a blessing, because really this is how everyone should be taught! But since I am teaching kids it really puts my simplifying to the test!

This week President Pratt came up to Newfoundland and took all the missionaries in our distirct to dinner! It was so amazing to spend time with him and get the insight he has.  He is truly so inspired in all he does.

President Pratt has given me the assignment of teaching a family where the mom is a returned missionary her husband is a convert.  So she has been through the temple, but he has not yet! They have two little kids and being sealed has been a goal of theirs and I get to help teach about the temple and the covenants they will be making here shortly.  I am so excited to do this!! I know the blessings the temple brings and how much of a blessing its been in my life and I can't wait to teach them those same things.

The power we have as Latter Day Saints in the Church of Jesus Christ to seal is one of the most amazing gifts we've been given. I get to be with my family FOREVER! How amazing is that?? I get what makes me most happy for literally the rest of time.  I can't even begin to explain the power and meaning this brings to my life.  I don't know if I would be able to leave my family for 18 months without the knowledge that I get them forever.  While I'm here I get to help others make their families forever as well and that is a calling I want to always do justice! Baptism is of course something I as a missionary want for my investigators, but it is the gate (2 Nephi 31:17-18) that leads to so many other blessings, such as the temple, that I want them to receive also.

I love love love you all!! I hope you have a magical week!!

-Sista Hird

Nathan painted my nails for family night!

Nathan's Family

Yes B'y!! This a true newfie saying! They shorten boy to b'y (bye) and EVERYONE here does it! But you don't just say it when referring to actual boys, we get called b'y all the time! So when you ask anyone a question the answer is more often than not, "Yes b'y". So obviously Sister Anderson and I had to buy these yes b'y socks to show our newfie side(: 

Sister Hird and Sister Anderson

July 25, 2016 P-Day #13

Hello my loves!!

This week has been great! We have had a lot going on, so I feel like it went by so fast! I am on week 5/6 of this transfer,which means I am almost done training! Which is so weird! I have learned so much, but I also still feel like a fresh missionary!

This week we got a new investigator! He is absolutely hilarious!! He accepted a baptismal date in our first lesson and I am so excited about that!! The date is a ways back because we have a lot of thing to work through with him before he can be baptized, but it's happening!

We also were able to teach our 10 year old investigator this week! He (and his mom) accepted a baptismal date as well! It's really amazing to be able to teach someone young.  It forces us to teach very simply and come up with creative ways to teach things through activities! It's allowing me to use some of the skills I learned teaching preschool!

This week we had a mission wide skype call for a training! That seemed fun to me, until President Pratt let us know that Sister Anderson and I would be training! I may have freaked out a little! My thoughts were as follows, "Me?!? Give a training to the whole mission?? I am not even done with my training, and they want me to train??" Haha so I was stressing! But with Sister Andersons reassurance that we were training for a reason and  a lot of prep we did it! It went good and I'm honestly just glad it's behind me!

This morning to start off our P-day on the right foot we headed downtown (cruising through the alley) to a restaurant called The Duke of Duckworth! It was to die for!! HOLY!! We had the fish and chips (The cod was literally probably caught that morning) They also put gravy and savory on the fries...wow Canadians know what's up, well at least the Atlantic Canadians(;

Funny story for the week:

This more a funny theme for the week, old men hitting on me!

Wow I seriously don't what it is about me, but I attract all the funny old guys! I've been forced into two hugs and almost been kissed this week! Luckily only one wanted me to marry him haha!! Ahhh Newfies and too funny, and sometimes a little too friendly (; But don't worry, nothing too worrisome!

Well I hope you all have an amazing week! I am so thankful for all the love and support coming my way!! Keep smiling and praying my friends, it's the key to a happy life(:

Love you all!

-Sista Hird 

July 18, 2016 P-Day #12

Just another week in Paradise! (funny cause one of the cities we are over is called Paradise) 

This week has been great!! The 10 year old boy I talked about last week is now officially and investigator! We were able to meet with him twice this week and he has such a strong desire to learn! It's amazing! I am so excited to see the way the gospel can bless him and the whole family!!

We taught them how to do a family prayer the way my cute family does it, (We all sit in a circle holding hands and one person starts it and says all they want to and then they squeeze the next person's hand and they add to it.  It goes all the way around the circle with everyone getting the chance to add to the prayer then the last person ends the prayer) and they loved it and are now praying as a family every night! It was such a spiritual experience and it also reminded me so much of home, so I was super happy!

I mentioned awhile back that we have another set of sisters as roommates so I thought I'd tell you a little about them!

Sister Bailey is the 1st, she is from Utah too (woooo Ute pride) and she was also born in North Carolina because her dad was in the army! So that's crazy!! She has been out almost a year!

Sister Cahoon is from Alberta and is actually not  called to this mission, she was called to Arizona but is waiting on her visa, so we get her until that happens (:

I love them both sooo much!! It really is sooo fun having them with us!

This week's funny thing is that being roommates just wasn't enough for us! Soo obviously we decided that life would just be so much more fun if all four of us we're sleeping together.  So we have four mattresses on the ground in our kitchen that pretty much take up the whole apartment...totally worth it! It's like a giant sleepover every night!

Sorry I'm lame this week and my post is a little short and I don't have pictures because I left my camera at home...next week I'll be better, I promise(:

I love you all so much! Thank you for the love and support! As you read this just imagine I'm giving you a big huge squeeze through the screen because I am (:

-Sista Hird