Sister Syd: Canada Week 34: Miracles upon Miracles!

Hello friends and family! I hope everyone's week was splendid and fun! I hope you laughed and made memories and if not, maybe you learned something :) Also....ITS MAY! How crazy is that?! April went so fast - I can't believe it! Anywho - it was another great week in the life of Sister Merrill, full of memories, laughter, lessons, service and food!

My companion and I got our videos posted with a little help from a friend. I hope anyone who has seen them has enjoyed them - if you haven't seen them go give them a watch on Facebook. They are on our missionary group page called 'Church of Jesus Christ in Northern Alberta' and also on my personal Facebook page.

We were able to do more service for our members this week which is always a blessing! We are so grateful we are able to that under the circumstances. We had some yummy meals including mountain pies (basically sandwiches made over a fire in cast iron makers), moose burgers and pork chops! It has been fun to sit 6 feet apart outside to eat supper and to get to know the members more and listen to the stories they have. Another fun thing we got to do was join a seminary class. We even got to teach part of the lesson and it was super fun. We also got to play around on an outdoor laser tag course with some members in our ward that run it as their business. This was also super fun! I love the adventures I am having as a missionary and finding joy among the simple things. That is truly one of life's greatest treasures!

This past week we were able to reconnect with a couple people we have been trying to meet with for a while now. We were able to teach a woman while sitting outside with some some members. It was so cool. We shared a beautiful poem with her about building our own ladders and doing all that we can to climb to Christ. We taught her that when our part isn't enough the Lord is right there to help us the rest of the way. He makes up the difference. Everyday we are all adding to our ladders through prayer, service, scripture study and so much more! It was wonderful to talk with her about how she has been building her ladder to get closer to Christ. Another lesson we taught this week started out a little rocky, and he was also very distracted by a dog he was watching for his son. When the dog finally calmed down, we were able to teach the lesson and it soon became one of the most wonderful teaching experiences I have had yet. I had been praying for understanding about a few different things and for opportunity to help someone with what I had learned and then - boom - during that lesson with him the questions he asked went right along with what I had just been studying and praying about! God is so good and works in such miraculous ways! I am so beyond grateful for the love He has for me and for others and for the opportunity He gives to me to have these experiences. We were also able to teach a few other lessons with more of our investigators and with some member families that I was able to meet.

Amazing miracle of the week: Back at the beginning of December a guy reached out to me on Facebook because he saw that I was a missionary. He said that he was interested in learning more about the Church so I responded and we actually started teaching him, We found the missionaries in his area and had a pass over lesson so the missionaries there could teach him in February. I guess soon after that he became uninterested and they stopped teaching him. Flash forward to now. He reached out to me again on Facebook and said that he was ready to start learning again and asked what he should do. We had a lesson with him and are now helping him start again. We will also try to get in contact with the missionaries there again.

I have been thinking a lot about God's individual, intricate and personal plan He has for each of us. It has been really cool to connect the dots and witness what Heavenly Father has planned for me - to see it unfold before my eyes. He truly loves us enough to have thought out these plans for each and every one of us. It is amazing to look back on the blessings I have received and to witness promised blessings in them coming true in my life.

One of the most amazing things about being a missionary - for me - is feeling the love God has for all of His children. Feeling that love of others and being a conduit for the spirit to work in other's lives is one of my favorite aspects of this work. I am so grateful God has allowed me to feel such a great love for the people I meet even when I don't know them at all. It helps me grasp a portion of understanding the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us. I love sharing this true message of love and serving others as a missionary here in Canada!

I had some wonderful studies this past week. I rediscovered a scripture that I absolutely love! It is found in 2 Nephi 31:3 -- "For my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God work among the children of men. For the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." I love that it tells us that God speaks to us in our own language and in our own understanding. Listening to the spirit is almost like learning a new language in a way. We have to learn how God speaks to us individually and understand the way He connects to us the most. I have loved discovering different ways He speaks to me and how I can help others come to a similar understanding of this in their own lives! I listened to a cool talk by Hyrum Smith called, "The 2020 Dimensions of Christ." He spoke about the dimensions of greatness and how to increase productivity in our lives. One of my favorites was the dimension to be loving. He explained that there are 3 motivational emotions - the first being FEAR. We do things because we fear what would happen if we didn't. It is the "I have to so this" mindset. He named this the telestial level. The second is DUTY - we do things out of duty because we are supposed to. The "I ought to do this" mindset. He named this the terrestrial level. The third was LOVE - doing things, because you want to. The "I want to so this" mindset. He named this the celestial level! This is the level we should all strive to be at. He posed the question to ask yourself, "which of the 3 emotions is motivating me to do what I am doing?" It was a really awesome new perspective on how to look at day to day things and how they affecting our decision making. It is also a good 'check in' for our mentality and attitude. I thought is was a really great talk!

To end I just want to share my simple testimony of the reality of God. The reality of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for their presence in my life and for the love I feel from them immensely everyday. I am grateful for my experiences of life - good and bad - because we learn so much through them. They love us enough to "cut us down" and allow us to struggle. They also allow for us to have indescribable joy! That is my favorite part! I love that Heavenly Father wants us to be happy! Being happy is truly a beautiful gift!

I hope you all have an amazing week! Find something to smile at everyday!
Love, Sister Merrill