Sister Syd: Canada Week 70: Mishaps and Miracles!

Hello again my friends and family! Hopefully you all were able to stay safe, smile and find some good during a week of insanity in the U.S. Our week in Canada was once again full of adventures, memories, laughter, and a few mishaps. Every week always seems to bring something new. Some weeks are better than others, but God never ceases to be good and pour out His blessings upon us!

Our week began with some fun exchanges with the Spanish sisters we are sister training leaders for. I actually lived with one of them in my first area for 2 transfers so it was great to catch up with her. They are both such bright lights and examples to me! Sadly, we forgot to take a picture, but the memory is there nonetheless. We had lessons upon lessons upon lessons! It was SO GOOD! God sure helped us out loads this week! We were also able to set up lessons with people who needed to hear some uplifting messages this week. We were blessed to have some really good investigator lessons as well. One lesson in particular was with our friend Tyler. He is incredible and the spirit was so strong during our lesson! He is currently working towards a baptismal goal of February 27th so some extra prayers would be greatly appreciated. We were grateful to be able to resume our weekly services at the food bank and the bishop's storehouse this week and it was amazing! I loved the goodness that I feel serving there. An extra little tender mercy was that I saw some of my Drayton friends here in Fort Sask this week - It sure made my heart smile! We also had ZONE CONFERENCE via Zoom this week. It was nice to see everyone (even if it was online) and to hear the messages that were prepared. The spirit was so strong and it was just what my little soul needed that day. Sister Crowe and I taught one of the trainings and it went really well. The spirit just took over and we just enjoyed the time we had to teach. Sunday we had church upon church upon church and then more meetings! Covering 3 wards provides abundant spiritual feasting and nourishment each Sabbath day! Truly never a dull Sunday around here! As for the few mishaps of the week.....one thing after another kept happening. It all started with taking out our trash after we did a freezer food dump from previous missionaries here. By the time we could take the trash out of our apartment the contents had melted and it leaked out of the bag as we took it outside. We joked that we needed to move, but did out best to cover up our tracks! ;) Other things included burning my arm with my curling iron, slicing my finger open on broken glass, and a headache beyond containment - BUT God honestly is SO good and helped pull me through all my little struggles!

MIRACLE! We have said hello to this lady since I came to this area, and this week we were actually able to have a conversation with her! She broke her foot and needed help with her dogs. We offered our free help and she was shaken. I LOVE giving free service! So throughout the week we were able to help walk her dogs and build a relationship with her. She has now agreed to let us video call her and share with her what we teach and we are so excited! She is so sweet! This morning she thanked us for being her friends and for just being there for her. You never know how far a smile and a friendly wave can go people! I am so grateful that God always seems to place the right people in my path at the right time.

Now for some of my thoughts this week. I came across an amazing video on the church's media app in the Hope Works video section. A guy shares his thoughts on human beings and the spiritual experience. He shares a quote from someone that says, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience." This struck me and I have found myself pondering it ever since. How often do we let others define us? How often do we let labels that others, or even ourselves, give us define who we are? How much of our lives revolves around us thinking and worrying about what others think, how we can please them, or how to not look stupid in any given situation? Humans thrive off competition, but can get trapped in comparison. Discouragement is one of Satan's greatest tools. A quote Sister Crowe and I shared from Linda K. Burton in our Zone Conference training says, "When we seek to complete, rather than compete, it is so much easier to cheer each other on!" I LOVE THIS! Shouldn't we all be helping each other get back home? We are here to lift, strengthen, love, serve and everything in between! God doesn't want His children to put each other down, or put ourselves above another person for that matter. Can you imagine a world where everyone just loves each other? All God wants is for His children to just love one another. We are all children of a divine being - we are spiritual beings - we always have been. We are living, learning, and growing in this human experience that wouldn't be possible without a mortal body here on earth. At anytime, we have the amzing gift to tap into our inner spirituality and see ourselves as God sees us. This can make all the difference in how we see ourselves and others around us. In 3 Nephi 12:16 it tells us to "let our light shine so that others can see God." We each have individual, unique divine gifts and talents that we need to use to help others SEE HIM. We are ALL special to God.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to have this human experience even despite the bumps and hardships along the way. Trials are supposed to come - we learn more from them than the good times. I know that God has a plan. Life may be a little crappy at times, but we can make anywhere we are shine if we want to. Always remember who you are and whose you are! We all have divine potential because we are divine beings.

I love and miss you all. Please remember to smile this week ;)

Love, Sister Merrill