Letter 16 - HAPPY FAMILY DAY!!!

Hello Everyone!!

Happy Valentine's Day! And Canada Happy Family Day! So many great holidays.

Family Day is a new holiday in Ontario as of three years ago I think? The city closed down A LOT of their stores, school was out, and no work so people could spend the day with their families. That is a holiday I will be bringing to the states when I get back. Loved it! Sister Mendenhall and I tried a new method of Teaching when we Find for the holiday. We got chocolates and taped a question for the soul on each one. Then we went around and told people that they could have a piece of candy if they answered the question haha. It was fun! It was great because it broke the ice from the beginning, showed people that we are normal (well as normal as Sister Mendenhall and I could be haha), and we could immediately refer to the gospel. Loved it!

Also, for Valentine's Day, we performed the girly act of Heart Attacking some of our investigators! It went so well and really helped our investigator, J...., open up even more to the point of HE asked US to come and visit! We committed the P.... family to doing that for their neighbors, and they had never heard of it before - so when we told Brother P.... to heart attack someone, he got this look of terror on his face hahaha not THAT kind of heart attack Brother P.... :)

So we had so many AMAZING people coming to church this Sunday! We called all of them Sunday morning to make sure all was well - a family of seven, a family of five, G...., L...., and a few others - and......... E... and D... were the only ones who ended up coming.. BUT E... AND D.... CAME TO CHURCH!!! We were happy about that :) E... is from Albania and we have talked to him quite a bit before. On Saturday we began talking to him but he was on the phone and had to leave, but before he left he said he wanted the address to the church because he wanted to come this week. We gave it to him, pretty positive that we would never hear from him again... but Sunday morning we got a text at 7 in the morning from E... saying he was COMING!!! We got him a ride, he stayed the whole time, and LOVED it. He hopes to come next week again! I love that :)

 

Mommy, I forgot to tell you, but we use a map in the car and with me not being the designated driver, I get to use it every day. Maps are awesome :) You are so right.

We taught a family and the husband is Jamaican. His accent is so strong it was pretty much impossible to understand what he was saying and the lesson wasn't going anywhere. Hahahaha I wish I could have seen what Sister Mendenhall and I looked like after he said something and waited for us to respond, but we had no idea what he said. Finally after a little while I finally told him in the most loving way possible, "I'm so sorry M...., but sometimes we have no idea what you are saying." Something caught our funny bones after I said that and Sister Mendenhall, M..., P... and I all just busted up laughing and couldn't stop haha it took us a few minutes to calm down. The amazing thing was that after that something changed and we could suddenly understand him! Not only that, but that experience really opened him up and he accepted to be baptized! Experiences like these make me love my mission so much :)

I love my mission. My understanding of God's Plan is increasing every single day. I love these people. I love days and times when things are challenging and don't go well. I love those times when the spirit is so strong it seems to drain all your energy. I love praying to my Heavenly Father and Knowing that He is listening. I love this gospel and everything else in my life. Thank you all so much for your support and prayers. I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful week! Make it great and keep your standards!!

Sister Bodine