News from Toronto Canada: Letter 37 -- Jared and April are getting MARRIED!!!

Hey fam! How's it going!

Welcome back to Utah Birts and the cute kids! That's fun you have been able to come down quite a bit lately!

I loved the pictures you sent mommy. Anniewa and Gary can you send a picture of your kids please? From the profile they look SO BIG now and I want to see them head on!

JARED AND APRIL ARE GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEK!!!! Elder Robins and I are so excited. This is so exciting! I hope to receive many many pictures and stories about how it went. CONGRATS you two! I will be there in heart!

So transfer news is pretty tragic.... Sister Von and I [lost] Sister Marler. She is going back to California. But ya it is really sad. We had a FUN transfer together. Sister Marler is such a wonderful missionary. I learned so much from her. And now Sister Von Niederhausern and I are staying in Toronto. I get to be with her for her last transfer as well!! They shut down our District leader's area so now there are only two companionships in our ward and are over the entire area. It's great!

President Clayton promised Sister Marler that she was going to see miracles her last two weeks of her mission. We did see some pretty amazing things :)

We went to teach Sister M... in a burger king on Tuesday. As we were walking in, this crazy guy yells "Mormonism" haha and says some crazy things to Sister Marler and Von. Our 16 yr old ward member who came with us, Natalie, and I were walking in with Sister M... when we are approached by this other man asking us for a Book of Mormon. So while my companions taught Sister M..., Natalie and I sat at another table and taught our new friend B.... He was taught by missionaries in New FInland and believes that it is all true. His first statement was, "I know that Christ appeared to the people in America. I have all the four gospels downloaded on my computer." Natalie and I taught the Resoration. When we talked about Christ and His Ministry, Natalie bore a STRONG testimony. She then looked Blake in the eye and said, "I know you know Jesus Christ is your Savior. I know you know the Book of Mormon is true. I know you know Joseph Smith is a prophet. And with that in mind, I know that the next step for you is baptism." BOOYAH!!!!! I LOVE Natalie :) So he is preparing for baptism. The problem is he doesn't have a home right now and it is impossible to get a hold of him. PLEASE keep him in your prayers!!!

On Preparation Day, we went to the CN-Tower with our District and the Portuguese Elders. It was so much fun. And something I realized, is at night, when the lights are all on, we can see America across the waters! Hello New York!!

Kind of funny: there were too many people getting on the subway on our way back from the CN-Tower. So Sister Marler, Elder Meise, and I get separated from the group for a minute. It was hilarious. And always terrifying for a split second haha.

Our zone decided to do the "Bus Challenge" where you try and talk with every single person on the bus and invite them to do something (come to church, meet with us, be baptized...) You get one point for talking to an entire bus, and two points for a subway or street car. I am not NEAR as competitive as I used to be - like I don't feel the need to win, and frustration when I don't. But still, when there is a challenge brought forth, the motivation to fulfill it is still there. Haha we talked to EVERYONE- and it was SO MUCH FUN!!!! It really opened my eyes to trying different ways to talk to people. It helped me recognize a little more when people are interested or prepared and when they are not. And I realized HARD CORE that when you sincerely smile in every situation, the rejection isn't as harsh and people's willingness to listen to you is that much greater. Continue to smile people. It's the best :)

We taught a man from Mexico named J..., and I got to bear my testimony to him in Spanish! I've been practicing. It was awesome :)

A couple days ago I contacted a man named R... on the Subway. He gave us his address just as we were leaving. We went to his street and I realized that I forgot his address! We said a prayer, and asked God to help us find his house. That day we didn't end up finding him. But I KNEW we were going to. So we went back the next day, after figuring out his address. We passed this lady pulling a stroller, and it sounded like she was having a really heated conversation on the phone with someone so we just smiled and said hi as we walked past. We found R...'s home and it ended up being fake. So as we passed the woman again, she hung up the phone and took a really deep breathe. We said hi again and she asked us what we were doing. We introduced ourselves as missionaries and had an awesome conversation with her about mending family relationships with God's help. S.... told us we completely made her day much better and invited us to come back. All I can say is I know God answers prayers in mysterious way. And I am so grateful for R... in giving us the Perfect fake address! haha.

Something Sister Von said in her talk in Sacrament that I thought was awesome is that "commandments are pockets of 'Him's'" - every commandment is an opportunity for us to become a little bit more like our loving Heavenly Father. One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2:41. I hope we will all open our eyes to recognize the blessings of keeping God's commandments a little bit more this week.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Have a great week! Praying for you!

Sister Bodine