Hey fam! This week was great. We had the Relief Society Christmas Dinner and the Ward Christmas Dinner, so we have been super busy helping out with those! The Ward one was so good! It's definitely a different experience being able to go around and sit at every table there to talk to each person.. it's quite exhausting but fun to talk to everyone and get to know them better. We got asked to sing (hna Vera, obvi not me) and play the piano (me) 15 minutes after the dinner started haha. You would think I'd be used to getting asked to perform spontaneously by now, but it always comes as a surprise. But we killed it and Hermana Vera's voice sounded awesome! After the dinner, they had a Nativity and all the little kids were angels.. it was so sweet! We also had the mission Christmas party, which was really spiritual! I loved it.
Yesterday I gave my farewell talk.. It went well! I just shared why I served a mission and some experiences that I've had out here in the mission field. I"m excited to live up this week and finish it off with Christmas. We have soooo many plans.. everyone wants the Missionaries when it's Christmas time, so it'll be a neat Christmas.
Y wow a miracle we just saw! As I was sitting here emailing, I was kinda looking around and then saw someone who I recognized who was leaving the library.. it was Blanca! A less active who we used to visit every week. But then they suddenly moved and we completely lost contact. So I got up and ran out and chased her out of the library and she was so happy to see me! She isn't doing too well and asked if we could come visit her tomorrow and gave us her address and phone number! Wow such a miracle. God is always giving us miracles, we just have to find them!
Anyways, I'm so happy to be a missionary. I love this work and I love being here serving the people of Canada. Love you all! Feliz Navidad!
Hermana Dean
Calgary
Tuesday, December 20, 2016
12/19/16 Pictures
| Calgary North Zone Training Meeting |
Getting ready to pass white elephants!
Showing off white elephants!
Calgary West, North and Confederation Park Zones
La fam Osma
Christmas dinner for Relief Society
La fam Carter (that photo describes them perfectly, they are so funny!)
Studies with hna schnebs
La fam Rojas
Tuesday, December 13, 2016
12/12/16 Group Email
Hey fam!
This week flew by! It is SO great to be a missionary at this time. Seriously, everyone is so happy. We're used to people ignoring us or being rude, but I've been able to yell "Merry Christmas!" to anybody, and they ALWAYS respond happily. It has been so great :) So something kind of crazy.. we were cleaning out our area book (while playing the game of life, baking cookies and jamming out to Christmas music) and Hermana Schnebs may or may not have totally found the teaching record for Junior Reyes in 2008!!! WHAT the! It was crazy! It is so funny to read about. The Elders only taught him twice and they couldn't get back in with them because "the wife doesn't seem very interested" hahaha so crazy. It was quite the mind blowing moment. You really have no idea who you touch or the difference you can make in someone's life, even if it takes 8 years to see something come of it!
Last Monday we had a beautiful Noche de Hogar with Obispo, his wife and Bryan. There house is easily the most spiritual home I have ever stepped foot in. They are such amazing people. We watched the Christmas video and read the Christmas story in the Bible and BOM and then we played a board game.. which was the best! We had so much fun, and we all got so into it. But I really just love it up here. I can walk into any member's home and honestly feel at home with them. They all have the biggest hearts and I'm so lucky I've come to know them all so well.
Something that made my day yesterday - so we were in Gospel Principios and an inactive family walks in.. I didn't recognize them. After the class, I went over and hugged the Mom and introduced myself to her. I told her I liked her scarf (because it's so cute!) and you could tell she was very touched that I liked it. 5 minutes later, I put my arm around her to walk out of the room with her and she takes her scarf off and says "here, this is for you" I was shocked! I was like noo no I can't take your scarf! But she insisted and whispered "really! i know where I can buy myself another one" It seriously was the sweetest thing ever! I was so touched. Some people can be so nice!
On Sat we went to the temple! It was my first time going to the Spanish session. They have one in the Calgary temple once a month. It was amazing to see all our members there, both from el Barrio y la Rama. It was really a tender moment. And really neat to go through it in Spanish! The spirit was really strong and I recieved a TON of revelation, which was cool.
Well, love you all! Have a wonderful week. Don't complain about the cold because it is nothing compared to up here! Seriously.. I have never been so cold in my life! #trulyCanadian
loves
Hermana Dean
This week flew by! It is SO great to be a missionary at this time. Seriously, everyone is so happy. We're used to people ignoring us or being rude, but I've been able to yell "Merry Christmas!" to anybody, and they ALWAYS respond happily. It has been so great :) So something kind of crazy.. we were cleaning out our area book (while playing the game of life, baking cookies and jamming out to Christmas music) and Hermana Schnebs may or may not have totally found the teaching record for Junior Reyes in 2008!!! WHAT the! It was crazy! It is so funny to read about. The Elders only taught him twice and they couldn't get back in with them because "the wife doesn't seem very interested" hahaha so crazy. It was quite the mind blowing moment. You really have no idea who you touch or the difference you can make in someone's life, even if it takes 8 years to see something come of it!
Last Monday we had a beautiful Noche de Hogar with Obispo, his wife and Bryan. There house is easily the most spiritual home I have ever stepped foot in. They are such amazing people. We watched the Christmas video and read the Christmas story in the Bible and BOM and then we played a board game.. which was the best! We had so much fun, and we all got so into it. But I really just love it up here. I can walk into any member's home and honestly feel at home with them. They all have the biggest hearts and I'm so lucky I've come to know them all so well.
Something that made my day yesterday - so we were in Gospel Principios and an inactive family walks in.. I didn't recognize them. After the class, I went over and hugged the Mom and introduced myself to her. I told her I liked her scarf (because it's so cute!) and you could tell she was very touched that I liked it. 5 minutes later, I put my arm around her to walk out of the room with her and she takes her scarf off and says "here, this is for you" I was shocked! I was like noo no I can't take your scarf! But she insisted and whispered "really! i know where I can buy myself another one" It seriously was the sweetest thing ever! I was so touched. Some people can be so nice!
On Sat we went to the temple! It was my first time going to the Spanish session. They have one in the Calgary temple once a month. It was amazing to see all our members there, both from el Barrio y la Rama. It was really a tender moment. And really neat to go through it in Spanish! The spirit was really strong and I recieved a TON of revelation, which was cool.
Well, love you all! Have a wonderful week. Don't complain about the cold because it is nothing compared to up here! Seriously.. I have never been so cold in my life! #trulyCanadian
loves
Hermana Dean
12/12/16 Pictures
Hermana Sucuqui
Elder Whitney L Clayton from the seventy!
Last language training meeting!
Hermana Bejarano
We went caroling to the members this weekend! So much fun! I know the song "cantan santos angeles" down to a T haha
My buds from english class
Monday, December 5, 2016
12/05/16 Group Email
Hey fam!
This week was just great. A lot of ups and downs. On Thursday, we had the feeling to randomly stop by Lorena Reyes. So we did and she just started unloading all this stuff to us.. She was telling us some of Junior's doubts and how he has gotten into some anti-mormon videos. So it was really tough to hear! But Lorena is sooo solid, she said "I told him that I am going to that church with our children, with or without him. I know it's true, I can't deny it." So that made me happy! The following night we had a lesson with them and Hno Fernando and we watched the talk "Come, Join us" (I think that's what it's called in English) by Pres Uchtdorf, and it was soooo good. It was exactly what they needed. We ended the lesson and then Junior starts bible bashing us.. the first time it had happened, pretty sad. It was more a lot of questions he had, but he had them because he had been reading stuff against our church. But thank the heavens that Hermano Fernando was there because he was sooo amazing. He totally won the Bible bash!! He had all the answers to his questions. Then he started going off about the Book of Mormon, which is nothing new to us, people bug us about the Book of Mormon all the time, but oh man when he started talking it really stung. So I cut him off and just started testifying my heart out. And of course.. I started bawling. It was the first time I'd cried during a lesson with them, so the whole house went silent and everyone was listening. I kept picking up the book and holding it up in the air (I literally felt like I was preaching haha) and testified with everything that I had, that I knew that it is a true book. I think I was mainly upset, because he hasn't even read the book! And he's just assuming it's not from God. So I kept telling them over and over that they had to read it before they deny it. Then after I finished my cry/testimony haha you could tell he felt so bad and then he started praising me and telling me how much he respects me. It was so nice! He really is the sweetest and is like my Dad up here in the mission. But I think it really got me, because I love them so much. More than anything. It's different when somebody on the street tells you stuff about the church, or even when some less active members that you're not close with.. but when somebody that you love with all your heart does.. it's a lot harder. So it really really got me. But afterward, it was all good. The spirit was very very strong and I know with all my heart that the Lord was guiding my words. We ended with the video by Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon (so powerful!) and then we all knelt down and held hands. Hno Fernando prayed. He even cried during the prayer!! I've never heard him cry. It was so sweet. Lorena at church yesterday.. she's now the Relief Society Secretary! A huge calling! She accepted it yesterday and was just glowing. She's so happy! I have truly seen how the Atonement has changed her.
Anyways, life is good! Missionary work is tough.. but it's so rewarding and brings me so much joy. I know my Savior lives
xoxo
Hermana Dean
This week was just great. A lot of ups and downs. On Thursday, we had the feeling to randomly stop by Lorena Reyes. So we did and she just started unloading all this stuff to us.. She was telling us some of Junior's doubts and how he has gotten into some anti-mormon videos. So it was really tough to hear! But Lorena is sooo solid, she said "I told him that I am going to that church with our children, with or without him. I know it's true, I can't deny it." So that made me happy! The following night we had a lesson with them and Hno Fernando and we watched the talk "Come, Join us" (I think that's what it's called in English) by Pres Uchtdorf, and it was soooo good. It was exactly what they needed. We ended the lesson and then Junior starts bible bashing us.. the first time it had happened, pretty sad. It was more a lot of questions he had, but he had them because he had been reading stuff against our church. But thank the heavens that Hermano Fernando was there because he was sooo amazing. He totally won the Bible bash!! He had all the answers to his questions. Then he started going off about the Book of Mormon, which is nothing new to us, people bug us about the Book of Mormon all the time, but oh man when he started talking it really stung. So I cut him off and just started testifying my heart out. And of course.. I started bawling. It was the first time I'd cried during a lesson with them, so the whole house went silent and everyone was listening. I kept picking up the book and holding it up in the air (I literally felt like I was preaching haha) and testified with everything that I had, that I knew that it is a true book. I think I was mainly upset, because he hasn't even read the book! And he's just assuming it's not from God. So I kept telling them over and over that they had to read it before they deny it. Then after I finished my cry/testimony haha you could tell he felt so bad and then he started praising me and telling me how much he respects me. It was so nice! He really is the sweetest and is like my Dad up here in the mission. But I think it really got me, because I love them so much. More than anything. It's different when somebody on the street tells you stuff about the church, or even when some less active members that you're not close with.. but when somebody that you love with all your heart does.. it's a lot harder. So it really really got me. But afterward, it was all good. The spirit was very very strong and I know with all my heart that the Lord was guiding my words. We ended with the video by Elder Holland about the Book of Mormon (so powerful!) and then we all knelt down and held hands. Hno Fernando prayed. He even cried during the prayer!! I've never heard him cry. It was so sweet. Lorena at church yesterday.. she's now the Relief Society Secretary! A huge calling! She accepted it yesterday and was just glowing. She's so happy! I have truly seen how the Atonement has changed her.
Anyways, life is good! Missionary work is tough.. but it's so rewarding and brings me so much joy. I know my Savior lives
xoxo
Hermana Dean
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