Sister Syd: Canada Week 38: Miracles are real!

Hello my friends and family! I hope everyone had a splendid week full of adventure and laughter! My week was all over the place, but it was good! There are always so many miracles among the sorrows and hardships.

Last Monday night we went to our bishop's family cabin in Buck Lake for dinner. It was so fun and so beautiful! It reminded me of my family cabin at Bear Lake back home. While we were there the kids were coming up with plans to get rid of the giant swarms of mosquitoes that were there. Fun memories! After dinner we shared a message with them about the atonement using an object lesson. We had the kids draw a picture of themselves with a pen. We then had them scribble all over it and then erase the scribbles teaching them that Christ's atonement helps each of us to become spotless so we can live with God again someday! They loved it!

Tuesday evening we ate supper with a less active member and his non-member kids who are just the sweetest! We had a hot-dog roast ("smokies") with them at their farm. We also brought some other members with us. It had been raining all day and we were worried that we would have to cancel but God is a God of miracles and it stopped raining long enough for us to eat supper and share a message with them! That same night we had another lesson with DANNY. He is the best! We have been working really hard with him and helping him overcome some weaknesses in his life so he can take the next step and be baptized. Our lessons with him have been going really well and we are hoping and praying for good things. It is seriously one of the most amazing things to testify of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for each and every one of us so we can repent and come unto Him. The atonement is real and can work miracles in people's lives! The rest of the week we were again blessed with member visits and more lessons that were so good!

We had the wonderful opportunity to teach seminary again! We prepared and shared a message about joy. Life has been challenging with this whole #rona business and the students have had to deal with various struggles so we thought a lesson on how to have and find joy would be good. We had each of them each read a scripture that talked about joy and then share the lesson they learned from the verse. One of my favorites we had them read is found in Mosiah 2:41, "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken." A few students expressed that joy is found not only in their own success, but also in the success of others and in our Savior, Jesus Christ. One of my favorite quotes we shared is from President Nelson, "The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." This is so true! My companion shared a formula for how to feel true joy - The J stands for Jesus Christ, the O stands for Others, and the Y stands for Yourself. We need to focus on Christ first, then those around us, and then on ourselves. As we serve and love as Christ did, we will attain a selfless charitable character. The kids all seemed to enjoy the lesson so that was good!

Sunday was a day FULL of miracles! We have been trying to set up a Sunday service with people we are teaching and with members. We have been struggling to get in contact with some of them because they won't answer calls and messages. There were heavy rains that day and we were put on a severe thunderstorm watch so we just started praying and God is so GOOD! Our prayers were answered and we were blessed with the opportunity to attend a sacrament service with a member and some of his extended family. We had been there the previous night for supper and we had played games with 2 little kids that were there. These 2 kids aren't members and were so excited to join us for sacrament on Sunday because they heard we were coming! How sweet is that?! The member expressed his gratitude for us and the examples we were for these kids. He told us the week before they didn't want anything to do with sacrament, but today they wanted to join and they even said the prayers and sang the songs with us. It was so amazing! We don't know the effect this experience will have on them in the future, but I am so grateful we got to be a part of this day with them. We were also able to have two other Sunday services with people we are teaching and more members who were there to fellowship. It really was an amazing day!

This week I studied about what my purpose is here as a missionary as I strive to bring others closer to Christ, and as I come closer to Christ myself. One thing that really stuck out to me was that people are looking for peace in their life. I am so blessed to be a part of this work and share a message with others that does this very thing - a message that will bring peach into their lives. My studies were also again focused on Jesus Christ and His atonement. We could spend our whole lives studying the atonement and still not know everything or fully understand it. The good thing is we don't need a perfect knowledge of it to know of its power and goodness in our lives. I read Elder Uchtdorf's address "Behold the Man." It is so good! It is all about how the greatest day in history was the day Christ knelt in intense prayer offering himself as a ransom for our sins and how He bled from EVERY PORE! I can't even begin to comprehend the pain and agony He experienced because I am human and I know I would die if I bled from even a few pores for very long. I also know that if we use the atonement in our lives and repent daily we don't have to worry about ever suffering great anguish and pain. One of the most beautiful things to me is that Christ did everything out of a pure PERFECT LOVE for ALL of us. He would not have done what He did if He didn't love us. This is such an incredible thing to me!

I am beyond grateful for what my Savior has done for me. I thank Him everyday as I continue to repent daily and feel of His redeeming love. I feel His love as I study His sacrifice and reflect on the blessings I have because of Him. I know I won't ever be able to find all the right words to express how grateful I am and for how much I love my Savior. I am so grateful that He continues to reach out to me even when I don't reach up, even as I wallow in my hardships and sorrows. He is simply ALWAYS there. He will always be there for each of us and we will forever be able to feel His perfect love!

I hope everyone has an amazing week and that you are able to reflect on what your Savior has done for you, and for what He continues to do for you as He gives you daily strength and breath to take on every moment of every day.

I love and miss you all!
Love, Sister Merrill :))