HOLA,

This week went very well, but seem to be a very long week. I think it is because through out this week I had three different companions. It was really hard to say goodbye to Sister Olson. She has become my best friend and I couldn't count the miracles on my fingers and toes that we saw together! I dropped her off at the bus station and Sister Gerday and I got to spend the day together teaching Old people ha ha, jk but older then 20's. It was really cool to see another view of Ottawa. We picked up both our companions at the bus station later that night. Sister Verdin’s new companion is Sister May who is Jamaican originally form England but has lived in Montréal the last five years! She is super awesome with a really cool English accent. Sister Verdin is a fireball. She is the human form of Dora the explorer and she is hilarious. She is not afraid to tell anyone what  she thinks! I hit my seven-month mark this past week I don't even know where that one went?? Right before conference a recent convert I have been teaching since I have been here opened his mission call! He will not even be a member for a year until next week! He is going to Madrid Spain and I am so excited for him he will be such an amazing missionary! Conference this weekend was so amazing and I hope everyone was able to watch it and if not I hope you take the time to go and watch it. Sister Houde came up at watched it in Ottawa and of course took really good care of us. She gave some of our investigators a ride to it and then after conference took Sister Verdin and I out for dinner and dessert. I love her sweet spirit so much. I am so lucky to have one of my companions close by to see all the time. One of our investigators has been having a rough time in life right now and she came for conference on Sunday. As soon as Conference started it brought her to tears to hear what Dieter F. Uchtdorf had to say about gratitude. She continued to cry through out the rest of conference while taking intensive notes on all of it. I know everyone loved conference, but I have to say it was so cool to be able to see first hand how the words of prophets can affect people. After conference we asked her is she wanted a blessing and she said yes. I asked the recent convert who just got his mission call to give her a blessing. He was super nervous because he had never given a blessing before but he did such an amazing job. She even said when she was getting the blessing she felt like a whoosh of wind just came in the room and made her feel better! All of the talks in conference touched me and I got all my questions answered. I loved Elder L. Tom Perry’s talk a lot because I think the best analogy’s are with horses =) I have used my knowledge of a team of horses working together a lot on mission. I have realized it is crucial that as a companionship you work together and pull together that's the only way you will be able to be the most effective! Now that I have seen Elder Andersen in person I feel like I can relate to him more and I really enjoyed his talk about spiritual whirlwinds. Times in the church are tough and they are not going to get easier. It comforted me to hear talks that helped us to fight back with the evil in the world. To end my email I want to tell a story that I have seen unfold on my mission lately. We teach a recent convert and her non-member boyfriend. They are always inviting their friends to church and to meet with us. The other week at church a friend of theirs came. This friend is not the normal friend you would see at church. This friend happens to be someone who has the struggle of who they are and dresses as a girl. They are very nice and really enjoyed church, but as you might imagine the ward had a really hard time with it. I thought to myself why is this? We as Latter day saints preach everyday that we are ALL children of God no matter what. Why wouldn't they want someone that is confused like this at church rather in the streets trying to figure out what to do? I realized that Heavenly Father put this in the wards path to learn from it and they have they have learned to realize that they are just like us, a child of God. I hope that is how everyone can see each other I promise if you do then you will be able to have the love Heavenly Father has for them. I love you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Dick