8 years ago
Monday, August 29, 2011
August 29th
I had to come all the way to Canada to exeperience my first earthquake! Seriously?! We were in a lesson and I felt the couch rock back and forth, I looked to either side of me and saw that no one next to me was rocking so I didn't think too much of it until I came outside and saw fire trucks and downtown buildings being evacuated. Apparently earthquakes don't happen here often because people were freaking out. oh canada.
In other news I worked in a hurricaine for the second time! I don't even know what hurricaine this one was but the same thing happened this time last year. The Elders decided they wanted the car back on Sundays, because one of the Elders can't fit on our small girly bikes, and they took the car back just in time for us to have to bike and walk in the hurricaine. Awesome. So we booked it up the GI-normous hill to our apartment. Half way through I took off my hood and embraced the rain. There was no point trying to stay dry. We started singing called to serve at the top of our lungs in the pooring rain with the crazy wind and people driving by giving us weird looks. I am such a missionary sometimes.
Have you ever heard of Hot pot?! pretty much the coolest invention ever. We went over to Affe's for supper the other day and she and her 3 other chinese friends made us hot pot! It's where you take this huge pot and put it in the middle of the table and it's full of spicy soup mix. Then you take all this food and dump it in and it cooks it and you take your chop sticks and get the food out and put it in your bowl and eat it. It's like fondu but without cheese, just soup, and chop sticks. I have to say it was pretty much really embarrassing trying to master chop sticks in front of 4 chinese people. Not my talent. But I ate the craziest stuff! I ATE COW'S STOMACH! Yes me. I actually ate it. I know you don't believe me. I didn't believe myself. I also ate Lamb for the first time. It was pretty good. Tofu is ok, the cabbage was the best, and the bean curd sheets were pretty good. Pork balls were a little chewy, do not recommend those. Overall it was a cultural enlightening experience. I love foreigners.
So let me tell you about a couple, Claude and Janet. They are so cool! They are both on date for baptism for Oct. 8th! woop woop! Last lesson we got there and did a bit of small talk and Claude excitedly said, "ok well should we get started with a prayer?" before I could say, "hey that's my line!" he got on his knees! We don't normally start our lessons with a kneeling prayer so Sister Davis and I exchanged a look and then hurriedly got to our knees. Claude looked at us and said, "oh you don't have to get on your knees, I just really want to...ok so who's going to say it?" ..."uhh...Claude did you want to say it?" I asked. He beamed and then said a great prayer. At the end of the lesson we started to talk to Janet about baptism, Claude had already agreed to a date but Janet had not. I extended the commitment and she said she wasn't sure. Claude then chimmed in with, "well that's because you're not reading the Book of Mormon every day! you need to read and pray and then go to church and open up your heart." Claude just kept stealing all of our lines! It was awesome. I felt like he was the 3rd missionary. So I then extended it again and said, "Janet I know you can be prepared by Oct. 8th, will you.." She then cut me off with, "oh I know I can!" haha! ya Janet!
I really love the members here! They have been so generous to us! It moves me to tears sometimes just thinking about how generous these people are. The Hatt's gave us a ride to and from our supper appointment yesterday because the member that we ate with didn't have a car, and the Hatts didn't want us to bike across the bridge in the hurricaine. One couple who was only here for the summer and went back to British Columbia on Sunday, gave us all of their food that they didn't finish! Our fridge is now full! Another cute young couple went with us to an appointment, but it was a no-show, so they drove us home to get our rain jackets and then to our next appointment and in the middle of all of that bought us these amazing things called BEAVER TAILS! ah! sooo good! It's like fried dough with cinnamon and sugar. To die for! ah! Andrea, this amazing member who is 21 and getting ready for a mission comes teaching with us all the time and drives us places. Gloria, our investigator, (not a member, but she might as well be) bought us these sweet Canada shirts! Mine has a moose on it, it's the best, and she gave us New Bruswick pins. Saweet! Who are these people that are just so generous and kind? It's the nicest ever and I just feel so grateful that people care about the work we're doing and want to help out. It lightens my load so much when a member serves me.
The church is true! Oh P.S. I played the organ on Sunday, I was a last minute fill in because the organist was sick. I was crazy nervous. Didn't even attempt the peddels. yike. Missionary work really makes you step outside your comfort zone sometimes....more like all the time...Wish me luck in the rain today, hopefully this hurricaine is over for good!
Love,
Sister Crane
In other news I worked in a hurricaine for the second time! I don't even know what hurricaine this one was but the same thing happened this time last year. The Elders decided they wanted the car back on Sundays, because one of the Elders can't fit on our small girly bikes, and they took the car back just in time for us to have to bike and walk in the hurricaine. Awesome. So we booked it up the GI-normous hill to our apartment. Half way through I took off my hood and embraced the rain. There was no point trying to stay dry. We started singing called to serve at the top of our lungs in the pooring rain with the crazy wind and people driving by giving us weird looks. I am such a missionary sometimes.
Have you ever heard of Hot pot?! pretty much the coolest invention ever. We went over to Affe's for supper the other day and she and her 3 other chinese friends made us hot pot! It's where you take this huge pot and put it in the middle of the table and it's full of spicy soup mix. Then you take all this food and dump it in and it cooks it and you take your chop sticks and get the food out and put it in your bowl and eat it. It's like fondu but without cheese, just soup, and chop sticks. I have to say it was pretty much really embarrassing trying to master chop sticks in front of 4 chinese people. Not my talent. But I ate the craziest stuff! I ATE COW'S STOMACH! Yes me. I actually ate it. I know you don't believe me. I didn't believe myself. I also ate Lamb for the first time. It was pretty good. Tofu is ok, the cabbage was the best, and the bean curd sheets were pretty good. Pork balls were a little chewy, do not recommend those. Overall it was a cultural enlightening experience. I love foreigners.
So let me tell you about a couple, Claude and Janet. They are so cool! They are both on date for baptism for Oct. 8th! woop woop! Last lesson we got there and did a bit of small talk and Claude excitedly said, "ok well should we get started with a prayer?" before I could say, "hey that's my line!" he got on his knees! We don't normally start our lessons with a kneeling prayer so Sister Davis and I exchanged a look and then hurriedly got to our knees. Claude looked at us and said, "oh you don't have to get on your knees, I just really want to...ok so who's going to say it?" ..."uhh...Claude did you want to say it?" I asked. He beamed and then said a great prayer. At the end of the lesson we started to talk to Janet about baptism, Claude had already agreed to a date but Janet had not. I extended the commitment and she said she wasn't sure. Claude then chimmed in with, "well that's because you're not reading the Book of Mormon every day! you need to read and pray and then go to church and open up your heart." Claude just kept stealing all of our lines! It was awesome. I felt like he was the 3rd missionary. So I then extended it again and said, "Janet I know you can be prepared by Oct. 8th, will you.." She then cut me off with, "oh I know I can!" haha! ya Janet!
I really love the members here! They have been so generous to us! It moves me to tears sometimes just thinking about how generous these people are. The Hatt's gave us a ride to and from our supper appointment yesterday because the member that we ate with didn't have a car, and the Hatts didn't want us to bike across the bridge in the hurricaine. One couple who was only here for the summer and went back to British Columbia on Sunday, gave us all of their food that they didn't finish! Our fridge is now full! Another cute young couple went with us to an appointment, but it was a no-show, so they drove us home to get our rain jackets and then to our next appointment and in the middle of all of that bought us these amazing things called BEAVER TAILS! ah! sooo good! It's like fried dough with cinnamon and sugar. To die for! ah! Andrea, this amazing member who is 21 and getting ready for a mission comes teaching with us all the time and drives us places. Gloria, our investigator, (not a member, but she might as well be) bought us these sweet Canada shirts! Mine has a moose on it, it's the best, and she gave us New Bruswick pins. Saweet! Who are these people that are just so generous and kind? It's the nicest ever and I just feel so grateful that people care about the work we're doing and want to help out. It lightens my load so much when a member serves me.
The church is true! Oh P.S. I played the organ on Sunday, I was a last minute fill in because the organist was sick. I was crazy nervous. Didn't even attempt the peddels. yike. Missionary work really makes you step outside your comfort zone sometimes....more like all the time...Wish me luck in the rain today, hopefully this hurricaine is over for good!
Love,
Sister Crane
Monday, August 22, 2011
August 22
Hey remember that one time when we got 7 new investigators? oh ya I do. It was the BEST! We are now teaching all of Napal. Don't know where that is? Me either. Well now I do, they explained it to me, it's somewhere by India and China. We go to teach Nari, a college student here, and her 2 siblings and her friend are there. We teach them all and bam, 4 new investigators! It was the coolest ever! 3 of them are Hindu and the other is Christian. Their friend, Anuba prayed in Napali at the end. That is basically the coolest language I've ever heard. Lately I've heard a lot of people pray in their own language, but Napali is insane. She was talking so crazy fast I was hoping she'd take a breath or something, but I don't think she ever did. At the end I looked at her friends and said, "ok, what did she say? you gotta tell me!" She said she prayed for us and for her friends. I thought, "seriously? that was it? you were praying for at least 5 minutes." I love these culture experiences. I have all of these places I want to travel to now!
Josh was another new investigator we found....well...he found us. We volunteer at the local community kitchen every week and he was there volunteering too. He came up to us and told us that he's always wanted to learn more about our church and if he ever joined a church it would probably be ours. Saweet! We had a lesson at the church and gave him a tour of the building, then as we sat down to start the lesson he said, "I'm going to be honest you've got me convinced already, I think I want to join your church." uhhh ok! you want to get baptized tomorrow?...If only it worked like that. He is really enthusiastic about it though, it's awesome. He really wants a change in his life and he met us at the right time. Isn't it cool how that always seems to happen?
Our other 2 new investigators are an older couple, Claude and Janet. We met Claude street contacting and then went to teach him and Janet. They are both enthusiastic about the Book of Mormon. Claude's at page 100 already! Janet came to church on Sunday and said she really enjoyed it, she said she felt like she was at home as soon as she came in.
I love having people to teach. It's the best. I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father has placed me in 2 amazing areas to be apart of. Truro was so ready to grow and I got to be apart of it, and now Fredericton is ready to grow and I get to be apart of it. I feel so blessed.
On Sunday I gave a talk. It was kind of cool because all 4 of the missionarys in the ward gave talks. We just took the 4 lessons in Preach My Gospel and taught each one. I had the Plan of Salvation. I cried. What's new. The other talks were really good, and I think it was nice for the members to see what we teach.
TIP: do not work down town on Saturday night. That's when you get some...interesting characters. Seriously. We were walking by the bus stop and these guys stop us and want to talk about our religion. One of the guys tells me it's his birthday tomorrow and he's half drunk, but would really like to come visit our church. cool. The other guy was a bit vulgar, so won't repeat that one. We also ran into a woman named "Bunny Love" she writes gospel music and told us she loved us and kept hugging us. I felt the love, keep spreading in bunny. Then we go to an appointment and it falls through, so we're standing outside the apartment building figuring where to go to knock and this little girl walks out. She yells out, "hey what are you guys doing here?" She walks over to us and makes us hold her doll, "libby" and then insists that she goes with us. uhhh yike. We tell her we'd like to meet her mom aka we'd like her mom to take her so she's safe. Finally, she takes us to see her mom and we tell her mom that we just wanted to make sure her daughter was safe. Her mom says something like, "oh ya she's fine she just stepped out." ok so do you not realize that your daughter who is 3 who claims to be 6, is out by herself on a busy street? yikes! We try to leave and her daughter follows us. When the mom tells her to come here the 3 year old says, "no you come here!" ATT-I-TUDE. wowzer. The little girl then takes the Lord's name in vain and says she has to change her doll. oooookkkk......You meet all kinds of people on your mission that's for sure.
My new favorite pass time is contacting people on the bus. It's the best. Sometimes it's hard to start a conversation, but every time I listen to the Spirit I know what to say. It's so strange how something so simple as talking to people about the gospel on the bus can make you so happy. But it does! I'm so grateful to have this time to be a representative of Jesus Christ. It's such a blessing to wear this name tag. Now I'm off to ride my bike in the rain...wow I feel like such a cliche missionary. Isn't it the best?
Love,
Sister Crane
Josh was another new investigator we found....well...he found us. We volunteer at the local community kitchen every week and he was there volunteering too. He came up to us and told us that he's always wanted to learn more about our church and if he ever joined a church it would probably be ours. Saweet! We had a lesson at the church and gave him a tour of the building, then as we sat down to start the lesson he said, "I'm going to be honest you've got me convinced already, I think I want to join your church." uhhh ok! you want to get baptized tomorrow?...If only it worked like that. He is really enthusiastic about it though, it's awesome. He really wants a change in his life and he met us at the right time. Isn't it cool how that always seems to happen?
Our other 2 new investigators are an older couple, Claude and Janet. We met Claude street contacting and then went to teach him and Janet. They are both enthusiastic about the Book of Mormon. Claude's at page 100 already! Janet came to church on Sunday and said she really enjoyed it, she said she felt like she was at home as soon as she came in.
I love having people to teach. It's the best. I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father has placed me in 2 amazing areas to be apart of. Truro was so ready to grow and I got to be apart of it, and now Fredericton is ready to grow and I get to be apart of it. I feel so blessed.
On Sunday I gave a talk. It was kind of cool because all 4 of the missionarys in the ward gave talks. We just took the 4 lessons in Preach My Gospel and taught each one. I had the Plan of Salvation. I cried. What's new. The other talks were really good, and I think it was nice for the members to see what we teach.
TIP: do not work down town on Saturday night. That's when you get some...interesting characters. Seriously. We were walking by the bus stop and these guys stop us and want to talk about our religion. One of the guys tells me it's his birthday tomorrow and he's half drunk, but would really like to come visit our church. cool. The other guy was a bit vulgar, so won't repeat that one. We also ran into a woman named "Bunny Love" she writes gospel music and told us she loved us and kept hugging us. I felt the love, keep spreading in bunny. Then we go to an appointment and it falls through, so we're standing outside the apartment building figuring where to go to knock and this little girl walks out. She yells out, "hey what are you guys doing here?" She walks over to us and makes us hold her doll, "libby" and then insists that she goes with us. uhhh yike. We tell her we'd like to meet her mom aka we'd like her mom to take her so she's safe. Finally, she takes us to see her mom and we tell her mom that we just wanted to make sure her daughter was safe. Her mom says something like, "oh ya she's fine she just stepped out." ok so do you not realize that your daughter who is 3 who claims to be 6, is out by herself on a busy street? yikes! We try to leave and her daughter follows us. When the mom tells her to come here the 3 year old says, "no you come here!" ATT-I-TUDE. wowzer. The little girl then takes the Lord's name in vain and says she has to change her doll. oooookkkk......You meet all kinds of people on your mission that's for sure.
My new favorite pass time is contacting people on the bus. It's the best. Sometimes it's hard to start a conversation, but every time I listen to the Spirit I know what to say. It's so strange how something so simple as talking to people about the gospel on the bus can make you so happy. But it does! I'm so grateful to have this time to be a representative of Jesus Christ. It's such a blessing to wear this name tag. Now I'm off to ride my bike in the rain...wow I feel like such a cliche missionary. Isn't it the best?
Love,
Sister Crane
Monday, August 15, 2011
More Bike Adventures
I actuallly crossed the highway on my bike!!
My injury when I stepped into a puddle
The puddle!
My first Samosa
August 15th
Biking is brutal. I'm injured. Ok not that badly, but boy oh boy do my legs get beat up. yikes. I am learning to tough it out though. It's hard, but Sister Davis is teaching me....what did I even do this week? Don't you ever have weeks like that? We had district meeting and afterwards we all went out to a thai restaurant. Can I just tell you that I am not a master at chop sticks. It's quite embarrassing actually. Such a shame. I'm grateful I got sent to Canada where the fork is most commonally used.
We have a new investigator! Want to hear a really cool story? ok! So we go to knock these apartment buildings. They are the kind that you have to buzz to get in. yuck. Hate those ones. It's so awkward to just buzz a random apartment and say, "hey we're missionaries, you don't know us but can you let us in to your complex so we can annoy all of your neighbors and have them point fingers as to who let us in?"....ok so we really don't say that, but we might as well. We buzz the 1st apartment and no answer. Then in walks some guy and he asks us if we want into the building. SWEET. uh ya! So we get in. At this point I'm thinking, there is a reason we're here. That was not a coinsidence. There's got to be someone that we need to see here. We start at the first floor. A total bust. 2nd floor. Even bigger bust. It's now lunch time and I don't really care to knock any more, I figure lets just go home. Sister Davis says, "lets just try one more floor." ok 3rd floor. 1/2 way through and a bust. lets just go! No, says sister Davis, we should just finish the floor (see this is why you have companions, b/c when one is down they bring you back up and help you) Next door we knock on is this really nice girl named Savannah. We talk to her for a bit and then I ask if we could come inside and share more about our message with her. "sure! come on in!" WHAT? ya! It was the best! She's a mom of 2 cute kids. One of whom is a 4 month old baby who is suffering from a brain injury at birth. Her baby isn't even supposed to be living right now, but it was a miracle and now she's here! Savannah doesn't know much about God or Christ, but her boyfriend who is pretty religious has told her a lot about God and she knows that a higher power helped her baby be here today. Ah! God prepares His children to be taught! I'm so grateful that Sister Davis pushed us to keep going, or we wouldn't have met her!
In other news, Gloria finished the Book of Mormon! woop woop! She loves it. And we love that she loves it! Affe is as cute as ever. We were in the middle of a lesson when all the sudden she realized that the Simmons, (a couple from the ward that we had brought) had taken off their shoes at the door. She hurridly shuffled out of the room and then came back with 2 sets of slippers for them to wear. "It's too dirty! Your feet will be cold!" It was adorable. One of the things I love about all of our foreign investigators is that we get to teach them about Christ. A lot of them don't know too much about Him. It's a real blessing for me to be able to testify so much of Him and teach them about His life.
This week made me really grateful for the priesthood. God knows us personally. Priesthood blessings are incredible. I think they are one of the things that has strengthened my testimony the most on my mission. Time and time again, God reminds me that He is near and heavily involved in my life. So since He's no respector of persons, then he's heavily involved in our investigators lives too. Pretty amazing. God is there and listening even when we think He's not. He's always there. I know it. He listens even to the thoughts of our heart. Pretty incredible. Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister Crane
Monday, August 8, 2011
The Chi-Lect and scantily clad woman
I would like to entitle this blog posting as The Chi-Lect and the scantily clad woman. Good title eh? Yes I did just say eh. I've been using it in my vocabulary more frequently. I don't think Sister Davis approves, but I've forgotten my American ways...I'm all Canadian now. Well except for this whole poutine idea. Gravy and cheese curd on french fries? yuck! You can get it at Burger King for only 2 dollars extra. mmmmm....hurry on in everyone!
So this week we went to......TRURO! ya buddy! It was the best. weird being back though...and so soon after leaving too! We were on our way to a conference in Halifax but spent the night in Truro part way. It was really weird sleeping on the couch of my own apartment....well what was my own apartment. Really surreal actually. It was the best seeing Sister Glenn though. She had the best news about everyone. Amber who we were teaching got baptized! Nathan who we taught is getting baptized this Saturday! ah! And Greg and Chad who got baptized earlier this year both recieved the Aaronic priesthood! So many happy things! I got to see a few people while I was there too! I saw Greg, he's hillarious as usual, Sister Reyes and her clan they had to do a double take when they saw me (I love surprises) and then Sister Priest!(the one who got baptized last November) She had recently taken a fall and she's in a lot of pain, it was nice to see her and so sad to say good bye all over again, but we both agreed we'd see each other in November when she goes through the temple for her first time! ah! yay!
After Truro we headed off to Halifax. I worked in the city with Sister Hudson (MTC comp) and the rest of the sisters went to a newer missionary training conference thing. I worked in the city for 2 days and it was the best ever! Oh my goodnes. Sooooo many people to talk to! We rode the bus and mostly walked every where. I learned a TON from Sister Hudson. She taught me to be myself and to act like each person's life depended on you. She is so outgoing and will start a conversation with anyone so casually and then bam share the gospel. I wish I could go into detail about every experience I had in Halifax with her and all the things I learned but to sum it up it was a very humbling experience and I learned to just be myself when I talk to total strangers. I will share one experience though:
THE CHI-LECT! Ok let me first say that this was THE BEST lesson I've ever been apart of ever! SOOO cool! So once upon a time the assistants were street contacting and met this guy from China, he was interested in the gospel but didn't live in their area so they got his phone number and gave him as a referral to the sisters in Halifax. They call the number and they get a guy from China....but it's not the same guy the assistants had met! However this guy from China is interested too! crazy right? It gets better. So they meet with him and he brings a friend. cool! Then he comes to church and brings 2 friends! woah! so cool! Then I get there and go with Sister Hudson to the appointment and we open up the door and I think, "woah it's a party!" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! 7 chinese guys! And they all want to learn more about the gospel! WHA? I know right? Plus we had 2 members with us. Soooo 11 people in one room for one lesson. So inside I'm freaking out and so excited. They grab 2 chairs for us to sit on and then everyone else sits on this giant mattress in the middle of the room. I felt like saying, "ok class today's lesson is on the restoration." At one point I asked , "so where are you all from?" STUPID question! a roar of laughter exploded followed by a...."duh China!"....ok ok just checking! haha It was the coolest lesson ever. We watched the restoration and testified over and over again. When Sister Hudson shared the first vision I wanted cry I could just feel the Spirit so strongly and I was so happy! We walked out of there extatic! One of the Chinese guys talked to us after and goes, "you guys are really cool, what I love about your church is this voluntary work you do. I would like to do that too." "YOU CAN!" we both yelled, "just get baptized and then you can serve a mission!" He laughed. It was great. But seriously. Can you imagine all 7+ getting baptized and serving missions?! China has got to open soon I just know it.
Oh side note: after that experience we were street contacting and we see this Chinese girl. Instantly Sister Hudson goes CHI-LECT! (the Chinese Elect) and walks up to her and starts asking her if she would be interested in learning more. The girl says no and trys to leave but sister hudson goes, "well you know actually we're teachin a lot of Chinese people right now and we'd love for you to come and meet them!" ..."oh really? ok well you wanted my number? sure!" haha loved it.
To say the least it was the best working in the city, and it's the best now taking what I've learned and applying it here! Our investigators are awesome and we love them so much, I just wish they could understand sometimes how important the things we're teaching to them are. It's so insane to me that we have this amazing knowledge of this plan God has for us,and we have the authority to baptize! And people don't get that they can have the blessings of that now! That all of the sacrafices they would make to have that knowledge and to participate in those oridinances would far be outweighed by the blessings they would recieve from the gospel! Jeff is a new investigator we have and he just committed to be baptized in September! I'm so excited for him! When people say yes to a baptismal commitment I just want to jump up and down and say, "yes! this is the best choice you could ever make!" I love it when I see the joy the gospel brings into someone else's life. I'm so grateful to be here serving and for the learning experiences I had this week. The church is true!
Love,
Sister Crane
So this week we went to......TRURO! ya buddy! It was the best. weird being back though...and so soon after leaving too! We were on our way to a conference in Halifax but spent the night in Truro part way. It was really weird sleeping on the couch of my own apartment....well what was my own apartment. Really surreal actually. It was the best seeing Sister Glenn though. She had the best news about everyone. Amber who we were teaching got baptized! Nathan who we taught is getting baptized this Saturday! ah! And Greg and Chad who got baptized earlier this year both recieved the Aaronic priesthood! So many happy things! I got to see a few people while I was there too! I saw Greg, he's hillarious as usual, Sister Reyes and her clan they had to do a double take when they saw me (I love surprises) and then Sister Priest!(the one who got baptized last November) She had recently taken a fall and she's in a lot of pain, it was nice to see her and so sad to say good bye all over again, but we both agreed we'd see each other in November when she goes through the temple for her first time! ah! yay!
After Truro we headed off to Halifax. I worked in the city with Sister Hudson (MTC comp) and the rest of the sisters went to a newer missionary training conference thing. I worked in the city for 2 days and it was the best ever! Oh my goodnes. Sooooo many people to talk to! We rode the bus and mostly walked every where. I learned a TON from Sister Hudson. She taught me to be myself and to act like each person's life depended on you. She is so outgoing and will start a conversation with anyone so casually and then bam share the gospel. I wish I could go into detail about every experience I had in Halifax with her and all the things I learned but to sum it up it was a very humbling experience and I learned to just be myself when I talk to total strangers. I will share one experience though:
THE CHI-LECT! Ok let me first say that this was THE BEST lesson I've ever been apart of ever! SOOO cool! So once upon a time the assistants were street contacting and met this guy from China, he was interested in the gospel but didn't live in their area so they got his phone number and gave him as a referral to the sisters in Halifax. They call the number and they get a guy from China....but it's not the same guy the assistants had met! However this guy from China is interested too! crazy right? It gets better. So they meet with him and he brings a friend. cool! Then he comes to church and brings 2 friends! woah! so cool! Then I get there and go with Sister Hudson to the appointment and we open up the door and I think, "woah it's a party!" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7! 7 chinese guys! And they all want to learn more about the gospel! WHA? I know right? Plus we had 2 members with us. Soooo 11 people in one room for one lesson. So inside I'm freaking out and so excited. They grab 2 chairs for us to sit on and then everyone else sits on this giant mattress in the middle of the room. I felt like saying, "ok class today's lesson is on the restoration." At one point I asked , "so where are you all from?" STUPID question! a roar of laughter exploded followed by a...."duh China!"....ok ok just checking! haha It was the coolest lesson ever. We watched the restoration and testified over and over again. When Sister Hudson shared the first vision I wanted cry I could just feel the Spirit so strongly and I was so happy! We walked out of there extatic! One of the Chinese guys talked to us after and goes, "you guys are really cool, what I love about your church is this voluntary work you do. I would like to do that too." "YOU CAN!" we both yelled, "just get baptized and then you can serve a mission!" He laughed. It was great. But seriously. Can you imagine all 7+ getting baptized and serving missions?! China has got to open soon I just know it.
Oh side note: after that experience we were street contacting and we see this Chinese girl. Instantly Sister Hudson goes CHI-LECT! (the Chinese Elect) and walks up to her and starts asking her if she would be interested in learning more. The girl says no and trys to leave but sister hudson goes, "well you know actually we're teachin a lot of Chinese people right now and we'd love for you to come and meet them!" ..."oh really? ok well you wanted my number? sure!" haha loved it.
To say the least it was the best working in the city, and it's the best now taking what I've learned and applying it here! Our investigators are awesome and we love them so much, I just wish they could understand sometimes how important the things we're teaching to them are. It's so insane to me that we have this amazing knowledge of this plan God has for us,and we have the authority to baptize! And people don't get that they can have the blessings of that now! That all of the sacrafices they would make to have that knowledge and to participate in those oridinances would far be outweighed by the blessings they would recieve from the gospel! Jeff is a new investigator we have and he just committed to be baptized in September! I'm so excited for him! When people say yes to a baptismal commitment I just want to jump up and down and say, "yes! this is the best choice you could ever make!" I love it when I see the joy the gospel brings into someone else's life. I'm so grateful to be here serving and for the learning experiences I had this week. The church is true!
Love,
Sister Crane
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
So there's a story with these pictures. Before I left Truro I joked with a family there, the Criss's that because I didn't have a car I'd be carrying my luggage up a hill to get to my apartment, while riding a bike. We also joked that because I wear headbands all the time that I would have to wear the head band on top of my helmet. Thus the picture. Enjoy!
The Best Day Ever!!!
Before we return to our normal program here's a word TO our sponsors:
Here's to you Mom and Dad for buying me that pink bike when I was 10 and letting me ride around in the garage in circles because it was raining, you made this week possible...(if only you would have enforced helmet wearing maybe my helmet today wouldn't feel so ridiculous)
Here's to you Matt for running head on to me on my bike and knocking me over. Because of you I'm deathly afraid of falling and now bike at a cautious speed.
Thanks to you Jeff, for the rides through the northwood trails. You bike almost as fast as Sister Davis does. Because of you I practiced early on the sentence, "hey wait up I'm all they way back here!" It came in handy this week.
And Thanks to you minnie mouse bike. You're training wheels provided for some good practice...if only I had those training wheels now...if only....
And now back to our normal program:
Happy New Brunswick day every one!! What did you do to celebrate? nothing? perfect! That's exactly how people celebrate it here too! I've decided that Canada makes up holidays to get days off of work. It's a well known fact by now. I mean come on Victoria day? Civic holiday? New Brunswick day? I'm just confused! what is the purpose? oh well...that just means more people are at home when we go to their door. wahoo!
As you can tell from above this was a rough week on the bikes. On Thursday I experienced THE most cliche mission day of my life let me explain why:
-We rode on our bikes in the rain all day (pouring rain) soaked through and through with my helmet on top of my rain jacket hood. Classic look, I highly recommend it.
-I stepped into a deep puddle and came out with one foot soaking wet with mud
-I ate foreign food with my hands ( It was indian food and the person feeding us is from india and she said it tasted so much better with your hands...I think she might be right)
-We got dropped (stopped teaching someone)
-Taught a lesson in a parking garage and I sat on grossness and got it all over my black skirt
-Biked like crazy because we were late for a bus. Get to the bus stop and realize it's the WRONG stop! ah! so get back on the bike and go crazy fast to get to the next stop and the bus comes but the bike rack is full! We ask the bus driver desperately if we can carry our bikes on and he relunctantly says yes! Miracle!
-Came home exhausted and looked in the mirror and thought "oh dear, is that really what I looked like all day?!"
So in conclusion it was the best day ever! Seriously! Half the time we were riding in the rain I was laughing. When I stepped in the puddle I thought it was the funniest thing ever. The indian food was really good and the people feeding us were so nice. And the rest of it was just an adventure. It's amazing how when you are on the go 24/7 you can see God's hand in your life so much! It always works out...we some how make the bus...we some how get a ride...we some how get a member to come to a lesson last minute...we some how have the energy to teach and listen and discern and teach some more. This is the Lord's work!
Our investigators are amazing! I often wonder what it would be like to be an investigator and make these huge changes in my life and sacrifice so much just because you know and believe in the gospel. It's incredible what these people do and what they are willing to give up for the Lord. Jerome (one from the phillipines) is doing good. We're working on getting him to church. This whole waking up thing is hard for college students :) Jing and Chen (china) are amazing. They have the best questions ever! At church Chen kept falling asleep during sacrament meeting and went out to his car to take a nap during sunday school. I asked Jing where he went and when I found out we marched off to the car to wake him up. I gave him a snack and he came back in...I don't think he appreciated it too much but I think he knows now that he needs to get to bed earlier on Saturdays. Gloria is awesome. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel and is so courageous in making those changes neccesary. Affe is the cutest she bought me glasses! Like legit glasses! The ones that I said I loved! Our last lesson she tells me that she had a friend buy them in China and they should be here at the end of the month! Get out! She's so cool. I'm telling you these people are amazing!
We also went to see a lot of members this week, trying to get to know the ward...and you know referrals wouldn't hurt either :) They are all amazing. I'm so grateful that people love missionaries here. I don't know what I would do if they didn't! Our fridge is always full of food and left overs because of them. On Sunday we went to the Caddish's. They are this older couple from Austria. They have an AMAZING garden and she made us a meal with fresh food from her garden. We had Chicken fajitas! AH finally! Fredericton you got it right! Mexican food is where it's at, no more meat and potatoes! The food was divine to say the least. For dessert we had banana bread with ice cream and her homeade warm apple sauce over the icecream. I was nervous at first but not after the first bite! De-O-licious! It's a good thing I'm on a bike with all of this good food.
I am so grateful to serve! I'm so grateful for my family! I'm so grateful that I have been prepared my whole life to come to Atlantic Canada and meet these people...I just never knew that's what I was being prepared for! The gospel is true! How blessed we each are. I regret all of those times I ever felt sorry for myself ever. How foolish. We are so incredible blessed we just have to look around and notice the blessings. God cares about the big things and the small things in our lives. He loves His children all over the world and hears them in whatever language they pray. He knows our hearts. I'm so grateful that He does. Christ lives! It's through Him that we can have hope in this world! I know that everything that we sacrifice for the gospel is really so small compared to the blessings we receive in abundance. It's so simple. You read the scriptures, you pray, you go to church, you get baptized and endure to the end. It all comes down to the simple steps. What a wonderful time to serve. The church is true!
Love,
Sister Crane
Here's to you Mom and Dad for buying me that pink bike when I was 10 and letting me ride around in the garage in circles because it was raining, you made this week possible...(if only you would have enforced helmet wearing maybe my helmet today wouldn't feel so ridiculous)
Here's to you Matt for running head on to me on my bike and knocking me over. Because of you I'm deathly afraid of falling and now bike at a cautious speed.
Thanks to you Jeff, for the rides through the northwood trails. You bike almost as fast as Sister Davis does. Because of you I practiced early on the sentence, "hey wait up I'm all they way back here!" It came in handy this week.
And Thanks to you minnie mouse bike. You're training wheels provided for some good practice...if only I had those training wheels now...if only....
And now back to our normal program:
Happy New Brunswick day every one!! What did you do to celebrate? nothing? perfect! That's exactly how people celebrate it here too! I've decided that Canada makes up holidays to get days off of work. It's a well known fact by now. I mean come on Victoria day? Civic holiday? New Brunswick day? I'm just confused! what is the purpose? oh well...that just means more people are at home when we go to their door. wahoo!
As you can tell from above this was a rough week on the bikes. On Thursday I experienced THE most cliche mission day of my life let me explain why:
-We rode on our bikes in the rain all day (pouring rain) soaked through and through with my helmet on top of my rain jacket hood. Classic look, I highly recommend it.
-I stepped into a deep puddle and came out with one foot soaking wet with mud
-I ate foreign food with my hands ( It was indian food and the person feeding us is from india and she said it tasted so much better with your hands...I think she might be right)
-We got dropped (stopped teaching someone)
-Taught a lesson in a parking garage and I sat on grossness and got it all over my black skirt
-Biked like crazy because we were late for a bus. Get to the bus stop and realize it's the WRONG stop! ah! so get back on the bike and go crazy fast to get to the next stop and the bus comes but the bike rack is full! We ask the bus driver desperately if we can carry our bikes on and he relunctantly says yes! Miracle!
-Came home exhausted and looked in the mirror and thought "oh dear, is that really what I looked like all day?!"
So in conclusion it was the best day ever! Seriously! Half the time we were riding in the rain I was laughing. When I stepped in the puddle I thought it was the funniest thing ever. The indian food was really good and the people feeding us were so nice. And the rest of it was just an adventure. It's amazing how when you are on the go 24/7 you can see God's hand in your life so much! It always works out...we some how make the bus...we some how get a ride...we some how get a member to come to a lesson last minute...we some how have the energy to teach and listen and discern and teach some more. This is the Lord's work!
Our investigators are amazing! I often wonder what it would be like to be an investigator and make these huge changes in my life and sacrifice so much just because you know and believe in the gospel. It's incredible what these people do and what they are willing to give up for the Lord. Jerome (one from the phillipines) is doing good. We're working on getting him to church. This whole waking up thing is hard for college students :) Jing and Chen (china) are amazing. They have the best questions ever! At church Chen kept falling asleep during sacrament meeting and went out to his car to take a nap during sunday school. I asked Jing where he went and when I found out we marched off to the car to wake him up. I gave him a snack and he came back in...I don't think he appreciated it too much but I think he knows now that he needs to get to bed earlier on Saturdays. Gloria is awesome. She has such a strong testimony of the gospel and is so courageous in making those changes neccesary. Affe is the cutest she bought me glasses! Like legit glasses! The ones that I said I loved! Our last lesson she tells me that she had a friend buy them in China and they should be here at the end of the month! Get out! She's so cool. I'm telling you these people are amazing!
We also went to see a lot of members this week, trying to get to know the ward...and you know referrals wouldn't hurt either :) They are all amazing. I'm so grateful that people love missionaries here. I don't know what I would do if they didn't! Our fridge is always full of food and left overs because of them. On Sunday we went to the Caddish's. They are this older couple from Austria. They have an AMAZING garden and she made us a meal with fresh food from her garden. We had Chicken fajitas! AH finally! Fredericton you got it right! Mexican food is where it's at, no more meat and potatoes! The food was divine to say the least. For dessert we had banana bread with ice cream and her homeade warm apple sauce over the icecream. I was nervous at first but not after the first bite! De-O-licious! It's a good thing I'm on a bike with all of this good food.
I am so grateful to serve! I'm so grateful for my family! I'm so grateful that I have been prepared my whole life to come to Atlantic Canada and meet these people...I just never knew that's what I was being prepared for! The gospel is true! How blessed we each are. I regret all of those times I ever felt sorry for myself ever. How foolish. We are so incredible blessed we just have to look around and notice the blessings. God cares about the big things and the small things in our lives. He loves His children all over the world and hears them in whatever language they pray. He knows our hearts. I'm so grateful that He does. Christ lives! It's through Him that we can have hope in this world! I know that everything that we sacrifice for the gospel is really so small compared to the blessings we receive in abundance. It's so simple. You read the scriptures, you pray, you go to church, you get baptized and endure to the end. It all comes down to the simple steps. What a wonderful time to serve. The church is true!
Love,
Sister Crane
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)