Sister Syd: Canada Week 6: Transfers - God is in the details!

HELLO FAMILY & FRIENDS!! I have officially made it 2 months!!! And I have made it through my first transfer as a missionary in Canada!

I hope everyone had a fantabulous week full of love of joy!! God strikes again and still continues to be oh so good! This week was really good! We got to go on splits with the sisters in the Devon-Leduc area. It was sooo fun! My Prayers of getting to do service with the elderly came true! We got to go hang out, sing and dance with some elderly folk. I was in heaven! Old people are the best and so full of life I love it!!

A few highlights from this past week were a couple lessons we got to teach as continuations from last week! We finally got to meet with this guy named Eddy who we have been trying to meet with since I got here. He is a guy that was being taught and put on date before I arrived in Canada. We had actually tried to drop him twice. A week goes by and the sisters in our zone held a special for miracles to find new people. Friday rolls around and we got a text out of the blue from Eddy asking if we can meet so of course we said yes!! We met with him and asked how he was doing. He told us he had been reading the Book of Mormon and going to church in Calgary during the weekend. We asked if he wanted to continue working towards getting baptized and he eagerly said yes! It was really cool! We read Ether 12 with him and he told us different things he could do to show and exercise his faith.

The next highlight was our lesson with Cleo! We had a great discussion about prayer and the importance of communication with God. We also talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon. She asked us why the word fun or play never came up in the book and asked if we aren't allowed to have fun in our church. It was actually hilarious! We explained that the teachings from the Book of Mormon help us to achieve eternal joy and happiness. She then wanted to know why we came on our missions. It was an awesome opportunity to share why I am on a mission with her. I explained to her that I chose to serve a mission to listen, to love and to serve people just as Christ did. I had a desire to help others come closer to their Savior and access His atonement to feel of His mercy, forgiveness and love that He has for each of us. She started to cry and said that was beautiful. I felt the spirit so strong and was so grateful for her and for the opportunity to share my testimony with her.

TRANSFER NEWS!!
I am staying in my area in Whitemud Creek! I am getting a new trainer and together we will be training a greenie! We got our call and President asked if I would be okay if he kept me in my area. Of course I said yes! He told me who my trainer would be and THEN he was like AND you will be co-training a greenie! So I will now be in a tripan finishing my training and training another missionary. I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY!

I have such a strong testimony that God is in the details of our lives. He is always there, always looking our for us, always placing people and miracles in our paths. I have gained such a strength from my Savior this last transfer. He has truly carried me on His shoulders and has molded and continues to mold me into the instrument He needs me to be on this mission. To be honest, it has been extremely hard and I have been in a hard situation. My current trainer has been particularly rough and hasn't provided much of any training for me. I have been basically training myself with the Lord's help. Looking back I can see the Lord's hand through it all. I have learned many valuable lessons I wouldn't have learned if I was placed in a different situation. I have learned how to rely fully on my Savior and how to access the strength I can receive from Him through the enabling power of the atonement.

My studies this week have been focused on my purpose as a missionary and how to better recognize and understand the spirit. I have learned that God is EAGERLY waiting for us to reach out to Him, to ask for His help, to tell Him the desires of our hearts and to give thanks for His tender mercies. I learned that as missionaries our spirits are so strong that most of the time we have a hard time recognizing that we are feeling it because it becomes a constant thing. I have learned that I need to not look so hard and focus on trying to have this crazy burning spiritual experiences and rather trust God, remain worthy and just love the people and speak with the power and authority I've been given and the spirit will be there every time. I was reminded that my purpose as a missionary is to represent Jesus Christ, the only perfect example that we have. We need to do all we can to represent Him in every aspect of our lives. I have seen the miracles that can come from focusing solely on our Savior.

I am SO grateful for this opportunity I have to be a full time representative of my Savior Jesus Christ! I am so beyond grateful for the opportunity I have to love and serve just as He did and to deepen my conversion to him. I can't wait to see the miracles and blessings that are in store for my future. His hand truly is in EVERYTHING and we with our mortal natural man eyes fail to recognize it most of the time. I have been able to see it by keeping a tender mercy journal everyday. I am grateful for God's presence and love. I love this gospel and I love my Savior!

Have an amazing week! Everyone is always in my prayers! Keep enjoying life :)

Love, Sister Syd Merrill <3