Sister Syd: Canada Week 23: Happy Valentines Day!

Hi there again! Another week has come and gone! It's crazy! This week was a great one full of good, weird, and some disappointing moments. I hope everyone back home is doing well and that you all had a Happy Valentines Day!

This past week we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leader Tuesday through Thursday. Overall it was super fun and I was able to learn a few things, but it was definitely on the harder side for some of it. I am grateful that God allows for us to have a wide variety of experiences because He knows exactly what we need to learn and how we are going to learn it best!

God truly does work in the details! The members here continue to be amazing. We have worked so hard in our area with all the members, active or less active, and even part-member families. We haven't been able to see too many fruits of our labors yet and I have been feeling really disappointed - like I haven't been making a difference - but God sure taught me a few lessons this week! We had some really cool experiences with members this week. I was able to learn and truly realize that this is God's work and I am SO blessed to be an instrument in His hands sharing the gospel to others. This work takes time - miracles take time - and it is all measured in God's time. This life sure is a great test of our faith. We are asked to trust God over and over again with the timing of things and we don't always understand why. This is where our faith plays a big role. It really is exciting! I am so grateful for the bounteous opportunities I am continually provided with to learn and grow!

At district council this week our district leader brought a bunch of random objects and gave one to each of us with the challenge to relate it to the gospel. It was so fun and allowed for each of us to see just how natural and normal we can make the gospel part of our everyday conversations. This is a huge part of our member work vision in this mission. We want the members to realize there are many ways they can share the gospel in normal and natural ways. My companion and I actually did this same activity with a family one night and they loved it. They came up with amazing relations to the gospel and then thought of people they knew that they could talk to and share the gospel with! It was such a neat experience! :)

We had another great experience with some other members the other night. We went to supper at their house and when we got there they told us they had come up with a list of some friends they could share the gospel with and wanted to introduce us to one of them that night. We made cookies and wrote a little note to take with us. We then went and met these neighbors, who aren't members, and the member we had supper with was super bold in his missionary efforts! It actually took me by surprise to see someone that bold right off the bat. It was inspiring and I'm excited to see where it goes.

One of my favorite things I studied this week actually came about because of an infection I developed in my mouth. I noticed it a few days ago and immediately got super down and wondered why this was happening to me right now. It is a major inconvenience as a missionary to have any sort of illness or infection. I kept saying "poor me" and played worse case scenario. My sweet companion, Sister Costas, reminded me that everything happens for a reason and maybe me having this trial would allow for us to meet someone either at the doctor or dentist of wherever I needed to go. She continued to remind me that there is a reason for everything! Miracle time! At church on Sunday we were talking to some wonderful members after church - one of which is less active who has been coming more and who we were planning on visiting after church anyway. While we were talking, my companion explained to the member that I had this medical thing going on and that we maybe weren't going to be able to visit their home that afternoon. Immediately he and his mother began asking me questions and wanted to make sure I was okay. I felt so much love and could feel God's hand in the situation. The waiting time at Insta-care that afternoon was 3 hours and I had a choir performance so I was getting stressed. We soon found out the mom is an emergency nurse and the son is familiar with medical things and their brother is a dentist! They gave me his number and I got in contact with him and explained what was going on. He gave me the help I needed and even called in some antibiotics for me to take! I was so grateful for this miracle! Now because of this, we have a closer relationship with that family which may or may not have happened if this didn't occur the way it did. So if I have to endure this infection, at least we now have a closer relationship with this sweet member family because of it.

I have been studying about trials and why they occur to us. As small as this mouth infection is, it still isn't fun and it's hard to deal with when trying to serve and talk to people. I was reminded of the prophet Joseph Smith's experience that "all things give us experience and will be for our good." There is always something to learn! President Eyring stated, "If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing." I know that everything we go through will give us experience and will provide for opportunity to learn and grow!

We had our first missionary choir performance last night and it was one of the neatest experiences I've had on my mission. The spirit there was so strong! It was just a tender time to witness how strongly the spirit could touch and testify to the people there through music. Music just moves people in ways that spoken words can't. I am forever grateful that I get this wonderful opportunity to be a part of this mission choir. I am excited to tour the Canada Edmonton Mission with the choir throughout the next month and meet people are share with them this amazing spirit that the music brings. I love music and the way that it blesses me in my life!

I am just so full of love and gratitude this week for my Savior and for my Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for their love for me and for all those around me! I'm grateful for their hand in my life and for the plan God has for my life and for all the people He places in my life that I get to meet. I hope and pray we can all start to see just how loved each of us are and that everything we go through truly is for our good and for our experience!

I love and miss you all! Have a splendid week! :)
Love, Sister Merrill