Sister Syd: Canada Week 14: Lewis and Clark: Sister Missionary edition

Hello beautiful Children of God! I hope everyone is doing swell! This was quite the adventurous and story filled week!

I'll begin by explaining the title to my email. We had the distance we can drive during the month reduced so we bused everywhere the whole week! I know what you're all thinking -- busing is great for missionaries - what a great way to contact people! While this is true, the area my companion and I cover is HUGE and the transit system in Edmonton doesn't have any bus routes that go from point A to point B. The routes go from point A to B to C to D to E and so forth. Each bus is assigned a number and route, except that there could be 5 different buses with the same number doing the same route in different orders. Let's just say it took us over 3 hours to get home from a service when it shouldn't have taken more than an hour. Busing fills up most of our days now and provides most of our adventures and stories we have.

Here are some of our adventures:

*We met a guy asking for money and drugs. We tried to steer clear of him but he somehow he wound up by us 3 different times. During the second contact with him, he told us he lives in a penthouse with 100 rooms by himself and breakfast, lunch and supper are served everyday. The third and last encounter we had was him telling us he has blue eyes (he had brown) and proceeded to blink over and over. Then he closed them and pushed on them with his fingers and then he was shaking and rolling his eyes like crazy and then he walked away......Just say no to drugs people!

*We met a guy who has 127 pairs of shoes that have cost him thousands of dollars. He has a single pair that cost him well over $2000 and he bought them a couple sizes too big and nailed the shoe box to the wall. He also buys shoes for his little sister who is 3 and now has more pairs of shoes than he does.

*A lady bashed us at a bus stop and said that we have nothing more we can give her and that if she were to die right then and there she would go straight to heaven no matter what she had done and that my companion and I wouldn't make it!

*We walked home across and over a highway more than once......it was so frigid!!!

*We missed a bus and the next one didn't come for 40 minutes so we learned a dance for our Christmas Zone Conference in a bus stop box :)

There are so many more adventures but those are just some of the highlights of the week. Despite the craziness, we were also able to see so many miracles!!! God is so GOOD!!! We were headed to a lesson and were debating to switch buses to get there. We decided at the last minute we would so we went and jumped onto a crowded bus. It was on this bus I noticed a guy sitting down - he looked vaguely familiar and then it hit me! I met this guy - his name is Max - on the LRT my first transfer in the mission. We got his number but he never responded so we dropped him. I went over to him and asked if his name was Max and he said yeah and that he thought I looked familiar. It turns out he got a new phone and lost our number so he asked for it again! I was so amazed at how good God was in that very moment. The odds of me seeing him ever again were slim to none but miracles still exist folks!

We also witnessed another crazy miracle this past week. My companion and I were both feeling discouraged because we aren't teaching many people right now nor have the people we have found and contacted progressed or been very interested. Then this random guy messaged me on Facebook - he saw that I was an LDS missionary and wanted to know how he could learn more about the church. Sister Jensen and I responded and we taught him last Wednesday over video chat. We are now working on getting in touch with missionaries where he lives to get more of his questions answered! God sure showed us :)

The last small miracle I wanted to mention happened just a couple days ago. We were at the bus hub at the mall waiting for our bus and it was SO COLD. It was -18 and windy so it felt more like -23! All the sudden this bus honked at us - we wondered if we were in the way or something and then then he honked again and motioned for us to come get onto his bus. We went over and told him this wasn't our bus and then he said to just get on and warm up. So we did and then he asked us to tell him who Jesus is and we had a little lesson right there on a bus while waiting for ours! I immediately told the driver that Jesus is my strength! Never has that ever been more true than on my mission. My Savior has carried me more than once and given me the strength to keep going when I didn't think I could. It was an awesome and CRAZY miracle for us!

A lot of my studies this past were focused around God's hand in our lives. His miracles and tender mercies are EVERYWHERE. Here are some quotes and things I really liked and wanted to share. David A. Bednar said, "The Lord's tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindness, consolation, support and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Truly the Lord suits His mercies according to the conditions of the children of men." I LOVE THIS QUOTE! One of the greatest things I have done on my mission is to write in a tender mercy journal everyday. I have the mindset to look for God each day. I look for and find how His hand is in my life and then I write them down. This has helped me to open my eyes and realize He is always there even when I don't feel like He is. I have thought a lot about the saying, "give it all to God." This is easier said then done that is FOR SURE. But the more I have thought about it the more I have come to realize that it takes faith. Faith that the Lord has prepared the way. Faith that He will carry us through. Faith that He understands and can help us not become too overwhelmed. There is another quote by Henry B. Eyring I found this week and loved. He said, "We may have to pray with FAITH to know what we are to do and we must pray with DETERMINATION to obey, but we can know what to do and be sure that the way has been prepared for us by the Lord."

My challenge for everyone this week is for you to ask yourselves who Jesus Christ is to you. An activity my companion and I have loved doing with families - especially this time of year - is to write down all the names they know Christ is known for like Prince of Peace, Counselor, Advocate, Teacher etc... and to pick one that sticks out to them. After choosing one name, come up with a way to implement that into your life - especially during this Christmas season!

To close, I just want to bear my testimony on the Lords hand in our lives. He is SO AWARE OF US! Just when we think He has forgotten us and we start to think He has run out of ideas and help us, He shows up and shows us what He can do! He is so good! The miracles I have been able to witness this past week were definitely a mood and testimony booster and I am so grateful He loves me enough to show me His tender mercies💕

I hope everyone has a splendid week! Love and miss you all!!
Love, Sister Merrill