Friday, September 30, 2016

"Last door, 4th floor"



Hello hello!!



So it's Monday again... crazy how fast Monday's come.
But anyway, first things first. The subject line-- this was my favorite pun from this week. There is this super cute old lady in our ward named Sister Longbotham (not to be confused with Longbottom from Harry Potter) but there is this less active guy named Rex who is pretty much wanting to marry her... but for her there is no rex-ual attraction... ha I laughed too hard at that one.

Linda is adorable and made me this super cute vase :)

The world's largest shower-- it's like 2 by 2...

Just a cute little house we found this week


Ok so these "car2go"s are all over the place here. I don't know if that is just a Canada thing or if it's in the states...

downtown 

In case you are ever wondering what fun things are going on in Calgary, this is the information board!

I forgot to mention how cute Sister Francis is. Somehow it came up that Grandma King always had
lemon drops and how I loved them... she gave me a bag before I left Lethbridge.


But anywayyyyy this week was pretty good. We didn't have the car so there was lots and lots of walking. It also just so happens that it was the coldest week thus far on my mission. YAY. But no it was actually super fun. Accomplishment of the week; it was HORRIBLE weather on Wednesday-- super rainy and cold, and yet we were still out and about doing things. We walked 15 kilometers. So even though it was a long and wet day we still felt like we had given it our all. When you get home at the end of the day and you can't keep your eyes open, that's when you know that you worked hard :)


So ya, this week was definitely us finding the tender mercies cause it was pretty rough... But hey, we met some very VERY interesting people while we were out tracting and street contacting. On Tuesday we were just having a super slow day, honestly just wanted the day to be over and we were just sitting on the bus when this little girl named Betty came and sat next to me. She was just super cute and had the most energy and I just loved her. I felt like that was the Lord just giving me one little confidence boost to get through the rest of the day, and it totally worked. That day I helped Sister Barlow give away her first Book of Mormon while out on her mission. That was pretty sick and she was super excited about that! Going along with the bus tender mercies we made it a point this week to try to talk to more people on the bus and just make them feel good. We aren't allowed to proselyte on the busses unless they ask about it, but we have been trying super hard for people to just feel uplifted after talking to us. And when we got to our stop the bus driver talked to us before we got off and said that he was listening to us talk to people and he just wanted to tell us to keep smiling because we really are making a difference in people's lives. So again, the Lord coming in clutch with the confidence boosts!



So we have started this fun game where we see who can give away the most pass along cards/ BOMs/ pamphlets and whoever wins at the end of the week the other person owes them a treat. So that has been a fun motivation for us both to just talk to literally everybody! We have been killing the street contacts this week! It's been pretty awesome.
We met with this less active in our ward-- that was also super interesting. The first thing that she says to us when we walked in was "I'm looking at 2-10 years in prison and I'm totally content with that." Ha so that goes to show you what an odd meeting that was. Don't worry I think she'll be fine.



We had some good lessons this week with Linda and Dara. Linda is on date for October 8 and Dara is on date for October 15! So we're pretty excited for what we got going on. They are both super adorable and you can see the difference in them from the first time I met with them to now... it's incredible!



Lastly, WASN'T WOMEN'S CONFERENCE LIKE THE BEST THING IN THE ENTIRE WORLD?!?! I seriously just ate the whole thing up, it was so good. Leave it to President Uchtdorf man! His talk was amazing! All the talks were great but I especially liked his. When he talked about going to the "last door, 4th floor." Never has a little statement like that been so relatable. It just makes me feel like pressing on even when it's hard because eventually you will find that person that is so ready to meet with you. I'm so pumped for conference this week you have no idea!!!

Anyway, this upcoming week is going to be great. We're just going out and finding more people to teach :)

Love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week!

Quote of the week: "If you're going to serve others or worship the Lord, you're the happiest and most effective when you do it with all the joy and energy you have."

Scripture of the week: D&C 123:17-- Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

-Sister King :)

Friday, September 23, 2016

Canned-ada



HELLLOOOO FAMILYYY!!!



To say this week was good would be an understatement, things are starting to happen here!







Okay so this week we were heavily involved with the Calgary Canned Food Drive (hence the subject line). Lets just say that was so much fun. My arms and legs are so sore from moving all the food-- which is good cause that means that there was a lot. 450,000 lbs to be exact. All of us missionaries here in Calgary got to help out with it, and the Mayor of Calgary actually came to the station that we were at so we had the opportunity to meet him... ha or he had the opportunity to meet us. I've heard it both ways :) Anyway, he's like this super cool guy who is voted like best mayor in the world or something like that, and I've heard that he is one of the only Muslim mayors in the world. How neat is that?


The food drive-- the mayor is the one in the middle. 


So ya this week continued to be great, we had zone conference on Wednesday. That was SUPER good!! President and Sister Miles are seriously the best! It was one of the best meetings I have ever been to. We discussed the talk "None Were With Him", by Elder Holland, and just had this super awesome discussion on the Atonement. It just made me that much more grateful for my Savior and for everything that He has done for me and my family. Seriously we are so blessed. Left that meeting just feeling like I could do anything! 
Zone conference :) Our zone is bombbbb


Ha on a completely different note, I've seen a LOT more this week than I wanted to. Ha we went to dinner with this cute old couple in our ward and the guy was having trouble getting into the car so I went and helped him and his pants fell completely down.... ha so that was super weird. And also, we went tracting this week and tracted into this naked gay guy.... ha also pretty weird. But hey it's stories like that, that make the mish right?

 
Okay so there was also some super awesome teaching going on this week. First cool story was when we went and taught our investigator Linda. She's the one that is special needs and doesn't need to be baptized but she wants to so badly. Anyway, we were there teaching and her guardian apparently was having a super hard day, and I felt like I should share one of my favorite scriptures with her: Isaiah 41:10 and 13. So, I shared that with her and as soon as I started reading she just starts crying. That apparently was the scripture that the missionaries shared with her when she was choosing if she wanted to be baptized or not. Holy smokes, the spirit was so dang strong, it was one of the coolest experiences of my entire life. What are the odds that is the scripture that comes to my head?? Seriously the spirit is just the coolest.


Second cool story from the week; yesterday we met with this guy named Tony. He's a less active member in our ward. He got baptized when he was 16 but then didn't really stay. He's now like 30-something and is wanted to realign his life again. So we met with him and had a super awesome discussion with him. Halfway into our lesson he just kinda breaks down and said that he didn't plan on telling us but he completely opened up and told us what he is dealing with right now. He's going through so much and it was cool to see that he really trusted us. He said that he didn't plan on telling us that but that he felt like we could really help him, so that was awesome!


This week we also were able to go on exchanges. So our STL's are actually the Spanish sisters. Ha so I got to go and teach some Spanish families. Ha man I should have taken Senor Bingham more seriously.... no but that was actually way fun and I enjoyed it a lot!



When you see a pink couch on the side of the road, you have to sit in it.
We got a car!!! Also, found this creepy santa and had to take it :)


So pretty much this week was just packed with awesomeness. It really was such a great week. Oh and fun fact: We get to share a car with the Elders! We switch every other week. Ha so that is pretty exciting as well!! 

Anyway, just love you lots! Miracles are happening here in the Calgary 5th Ward!!

​EXCHANGES!!!
                 ESL with Hermana Ratliff!! Fun fact: I worked at BYU with her little Sister, Nicole. 
                                   The city is BEAUTIFUL!! All the leaves are starting to change.

Quote of the week: "No matter how often or how far we fall, the Light of Christ ever burns brightly. And even in the deepest night, if we but step toward Him, His light will consume the shadows and reignite our souls." -President Uchtdorf

Scripture of the week: Omni 1:26-- And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. 

Love ya and hope that you all have a fantastic week. I pray for you guys every day! :)

Sister King



This is the Myer family. They always give us the "evil eye" So we had an evil eye competition. I won.
A new elder in my zone was in Haylee Harrison's district in the MTC!



Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Getamutsen

Hello hello family!!
How are things going back in the 84604???




Things are happening here in Calgary that's for sure!
We met with this member named Ellroy Panther Bone (yes that's his name, he's a Native) That lesson went super well and he even taught us a little blackfoot. Getamutsen means "see ya later". So ya, there are a TON of Natives around here but it's super fun to teach them, definitely a whole different kind of experience! 


Found an owl this week. You can just call me the owl whisperer.

Dad, you aren't the only one who can find a moose ;)

Leaving our mark

Photo booth at the wedding

Hanging out on the bus :)

The kid on the chair is Elder Chen-- new to the mission. Me and Sister Barlow,
Elder Cajilig and Elder Yang, Elder Schank and Elder Chen



Super pretty wealthy area

Do you ever just dry meat outside on your driveway? cause same.      Nah, we found this while we were tracting.

Almost as if we were in the mountains

Street contacted this dude. His name is Thomas and he is an artist.... actually super good.

We had to break out these bad boys this week (the umbrellas)! Fall is upon us already!


So as of right now we have 3 people on date for baptism. The first is Linda. She is this super adorable lady who is special... technically she doesn't have to be baptized but she has been learning the lessons and desperately wants to be baptized. So we had to go through so many people but she has permission to be baptized. She has a pretty neat story, even though she might not completely understand everything she knows that this is what she wants. It has really made me so much more thankful for that choice that I made to be baptized-- the blessings that come are amazing and we're excited that she is going to be able to experience that.
Another lady that we are teaching is Dara. She's about 39 years old and her whole family is evangelical. She was a self referral so that was pretty sick. She's on date for in October but we've got a ways to go before that. She has lots of questions, which is great! And we're trying to answer her questions by using the scriptures, so that's been pretty fun.


Then, this week I was going through our area book and this girl's name popped out to me. Her name is Jasmyne, so I called her up and asked if she would want to meet with us and she whole heartedly agreed. We went and met with her and she already knows that the church is true and she wants to be baptized. She has been Catholic for her whole life and is having a little trouble with changing but she really wants to. She does have MS and the whole left side of her body is paralyzed and yet when we met with her she was like the most optimistic and positive person. It was very humbling to talk to her. 


Okay so our area is dang ginormous!!! And so stinking divers. We've got downtown and the ghetto and we also have some SUPER wealthy places. Like there is no in between. So this week we were able to go to the wealthy side of things-- ha that was a whole different experience as well. Seriously everything was so big and nice... TBH kinda prefer downtown in the ghetto :) but it was still super great! 


The member here are so awesome! We were able to help out this super cute family in our ward. Their daughter was getting married and we got to help with the food at the wedding. Pretty much just loving the ward here and love getting to know everyone. Is it different? ha ya you could say that. but it's super awesome!
Fun moment of the week-- there's this old guy in our ward that spoke and no joke he sounds EXACTLY like the teacher from Ferris Bueller's day off... the one that goes "Bueller... Bueller..." it was so funny!!
Just loving it here and learning lots! 

Quote of the week: "Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved." -President Monson

Scripture of the week:D&C 123:17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the Salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

Love you all! Continue to cheer on the cougars for me :)

Sister King

Monday, September 5, 2016

Cana- DOWNTOWN!

Hello hello!! Coming to you live from downtown Calgary!!



So ya, on Thursday I was transferred from Lethbridge to Central Calgary (downtown) ha and seriously it is like a COMPLETELY different mission up here, but still so great! I am super excited! There is lots of potential here in this area!

DOWNTOWNNNNN!

We met this guy, Marshall, while we were contacting. He's homeless but he makes the most of it
and decorates his cart... ha definitely not the same as in Lethbridge

 My companion's name is Sister Madison Barlow. Fun story-- we were in the MTC together! So we've both been out for a little more than 6 months. She's from Farmington Utah and went to Davis High.

This pretty park with Sister Barlow, my new companion



Anyway, saying bye to all my Lethbridge peeps was actually a TON harder than I thought it would be! I seriously just love everyone there so much so it was sad to say goodbye. Saying bye to Ken and Linda... boy oh boy, that was difficult. But I'm gonna stay in close contact with them! Also, saying bye to Sister Burnside was super hard as well. My little baby is all grown up and getting a new companion and stuff. sad and happy day.

Lethbridge zone pics


​Saying bye to more of my peeps   1. Donna and Jim

2. Elizabeth

3. the Bettgers

4. the Maclennan's

Aron insisted that I send this to ya Dad!

Saying bye to our investigator Aron.

Last District Pics!!


2 of my favorite families--   1. the Heggies

and 2. The Traweeks.



Anyway, Downtown Calgary is seriously so different!! It reminds me a lot of like San Fran mixed with Salt Lake City. Pretty much I can describe the area to you in 2 words... STREET CONTACTING! Okay seriously, street contacting is like my favorite thing in the whole world so this is like my dream area! It's so great! We've already met a bunch of super interesting people. I'm serving in the Calgary 5th ward and I already know that I am going to love it here, the people here are just super nice to us. The past couple days that's really what we have been doing. Going and reaching out to the members and sharing a quick little message with them and getting the ball rolling in the missionary work. Lots of our time has been calling people off the ward list... the behind the scenes work of missionaries. It's very tedious but needs to be done. Also, the area is gi freakin normous! Oh and another fun fact... walking area!! Again my dream come true! Gonna walk off all that meat and potatoes we get fed :) 



Ha fun story of the week. Out contacting downtown and we start talking to this guy and he full on just starts swearing at us out of no where... ha we're just sitting there trying not to laugh. That's the neat thing though about serving here. If one person won't listen to you then you just turn around and talk to somebody else, it's so great! 



So ya, missin Lethbridge but just super excited about this new area and the potential here. It should be a good couple weeks :)
Love you all!!

quote of the week: "Don't you quit. You keep on walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead." -Holland

scripture of the week: D&C 12:8-- And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.

Sista King