I am staying =) =)

We received transfer calls this past Saturday and Sister Olson and I are both staying! This means that I will "kill" Sister Olson off her mission because this is her last transfer of her mission. This transferred we have seen that President Patrick is not transferring very many people because he really likes to keep people in their area for awhile this transfer a bunch of people are staying in there areas for 9 months! This gives me hope that I will be able to stay in this area for nine months! On Tuesday it was Taylors birthday so we made her a red velvet cake and brought it to her. A special gift that my awesome companion has is that she can beat box. She is super good at it so we got the other sisters we live with and we sang happy birthday to her while Sister Olson beat boxed it turned out really cool and Taylor loved it. I felt very loved on Valentines Day from the packages I got! NO one could wipe the smile off my face! Another Valentines gift we got was 1 1/2 feet of snow! It was so great because Sister Olson and I went around shoveling people’s driveway for them. It was such a fun service project and it got us to be able to talk to people. One of our really great investigators got a date this week to be baptized on March 8th. We are very excited for him to take that step for baptism. He is member’s friend who she introduced to the church and it’s so great to see the support he has from the ward. The institute program of our ward put on an all day conference for all the young single adults in the Stake. The missionaries got to help serve all the meals for it and it was so much fun and cool to see how strong the program is up here in Canada. Sister Houde came to the conference and it is so weird to see her not as a missionary hanging out with all the people in the ward that we served together in! She is still awesome though and always makes my day when I see her! Since last week in my email I talked a lot about member missionary work I wanted to share something really cool! We are teaching this guy named Caleb he is super awesome and he was introduced to the church by one of his co-workers from Nevada. His story is such a good example why member missionary work is so important. He wrote down his testimony and he told me I could share it will you all. I hope you enjoy it and feel the spirit that I felt as I read it.

"I started looking into the church because I was on a phone call with a work friend of mine, and they invited me to sing and pray with their kids. From the first time we did that, I could feel the spirit and the connection between the family. I wanted that in my life.

    However, I was worried, I had heard a lot of stories about the church, and how wrong it was, and for the next few months I looked for everything wrong with the church and shared it with some LDS friends. The amazing thing is that every time they replied with what they really believe... it just made sense, I cant really explain it.

    A few months ago I was drinking coffee, smoking cigars and drinking alcohol. One morning I woke up and quit coffee... A week before I had my last drink and nearly 2 weeks my last cigar... From that day forward I gained a testimony of the word of wisdom. I no longer rely on coffee to get me going, or cigars to de-stress me. There are so many blessings I have gotten from living the word of wisdom.

    Then, I started reading the conference talks and every time I read one I had a feeling that this is what God would want to tell his people right now... I couldn't deny that there was a high chance these were real modern day prophets.

       A few weeks later I saw a challenge in a Mormon marketing group I had joined to see what the church was all about to read the Book of Mormon in 40 days.. A few days later I felt an overwhelming prompting to read the book and do the challenge and I challenged two Mormon friends to join me.

    The first time somebody asked me if I knew the Book Of Mormon was true, I froze... My body was covered in this warm and cold feeling (and it freaked me out!), however over the next couple of days I realized that I knew the book of Mormon was true. I read the chapter 3 Nephi 11 and I know that the spirit testified to me that it was true.  A couple of days later, I knew the Book Of Mormon was true.

        A few weeks ago I was driving and i burst into tears, I stopped at a spot specifically close to my heart and said a prayer. I asked God if what I am doing is right, and if the church is the real church he wanted me to go to.

   All of a sudden I had to drive to the church, and as I sat parked around the corner from the church, i texted the missionaries who for some reason had a feeling they should stay at the church... 2 hours after the service had ended.

    As I pulled into the church I realized that all the fear and anxieties I had about going to church were gone... and I went in confidently.

     I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church restored by the prophet Joseph Smith. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I'm so glad that I've accepted this as I know it will bless my life today, and forever."

Caleb is so amazing and the gospel has really changed his life! His parents are very against the church though and they are very mad he is not going to their church. All he wants is his parent’s approval. We introduced Taylor to him and had her tell her story and that helped a lot! We were able to also get him a baptismal date for March 15th! I am so privileged to be able to teach him, but I really don’t feel like we do anything for him its all in his member friends that introduced him to the gospel!! I know this story could happen to one of your friends if you introduce them to the gospel. 

    Tomorrow Sister Olson and I are going to the Montreal temple with the older couple from our district. I am so excited because I have not been to the temple in 4 1/2 months! I love you all so much and you are all in my prayers!

Love,

Sister Dick