I have been feeling a lot like the sons of Mosiah lately, in Chapter 28 when they say that it kills them to think that anybody would not receive eternal salvation. It literally breaks my heart to think that anybody on this earth will not reach the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. So I will be spending my next 17 months diligently seeking for those that the Lord has prepared for me to teach and to bring back to Him!
So, Osoyoos is tiny. President Tilleman had Sister Nuttal (my trainer) and I open up this area! So we are literally starting from scratch. He says he has never felt good about sending Elders here, so he has been waiting for the right Sisters to come along. Then after he interviewed me the first night, he told me that Sister Nuttall and I were the ones he has been waiting for to open the area. What a humbling experience!! A feeling of inadequacy came along with this call for sure. But I will live up to my calling. About 3,000 people live here. We actually live in Oliver, which is about 10 kilometers away from here. But the branch is tiny, to put it lightly. There are 25 active members in the branch, almost all of which are down in the states for the winter. So, this past Sunday there was about 12 people there. There are 4 Priesthood holders, 5 relief society sisters, and 3 little kids that all just go to a room during class time. And all of the Sisters pretty much wear pants...haven't quite figured that one out yet. They are all over about 80 years old, except for one family that has the 3 little kids. It is certainly different than my Greenfield Park Ward back home!! But I love it. Our work is most certainly cut out for us here...to put it lightly. There are hardly any members, and everybody is gay, smokes pot, or both. And no, I am not exaggerating. Every time we walk up to a door I have to hold my breath when they first open it so that I don't pass out from the smell of it. But the Lord has certainly blessed me by putting me in this area, there is so much to do! No time to waste!
My first night of tracting was Sunday night! And then we went last night as well. In the past 24 hours we have knocked on about 200 doors, at least. Each door builds my testimony so much! About 150 of those were slammed in our faces. About 40 of them said something rude and then shut the door. But those all make it worth it for those last 10!! None of them were necessarily interested in what we had to say, but we found 2 that we are certainly going to go back to. After the first couple hundred doors, we were over by our apartment and it was about time to go in, so we started heading there. But when we got there, neither of us felt right about going in 5 minutes early. We have been really focused on exact obedience lately! So we kept walking and knocked on 3 more doors. The last door of the night was Karen. She is in her late 20s and was very excited to see us. She is going through some rough times right now in her life and she is searching so hard to find out if God is there. Not only are we going back there at the end of this week, we she asked for a Book of Mormon from us! Well, she said her friend took hers to read, and kind of hinted that she wished she still had it in her house. So we busted ours out and she was very excited! We gave her a chapter to read and we will follow up with her later this week! That just goes to show what exact obedience does. If we would have gone in 5 minutes early, the Lord would not have been able to lead us to Karen's doorstep, and we would not have found her at the time she needed to be found. Always be obedient!!!
As difficult as it is to have doors slammed in my face, my testimony is becoming so strong. Everytime somebody slams the door, or they say "I will be praying for your souls" and then slam the door (That happened last night!), it just goes to show that this is OF COURSE God's church here on the earth! Satan knows which church is true. So he is going to focus all of his efforts on steering people away from that church. Well, he is certainly working on the people over here in Osoyoos and Oliver! I love it. I cannot wait to see the miracles the Lord is going to perform and allow me to witness!
So, the money here looks like monopoly money. And everything is SO expensive. Gas is about 6 dollars a gallon, milk is 5 dollars a gallon, and don't get me started on the cheese. (So Padre, I will be desperately waiting for your famous cheese crisps when I get back!!). Everybody here drives across the border to buy most of their groceries. Unfortunately, as missionaries we do not have that luxury :) But I know the Lord will certainly bless us for our efforts in doing His work!
Just a quick note on the addresses. The mission office address in Richmond is always available if you ever want to send letters or packages there. I get the mail from there every transfer, so every 6 weeks. Our current address is:
Sister Ashlyn Biggs
6517 Hollow Street
Oliver, BC V0H 1T0
Canada
The mail system is a little messed up here, but the letter should certainly get to me within a couple of weeks. Just do not expect a lot of mail from me because not only is it expensive, but it takes forever to get to you! I would love to hear from anybody though, so don't hesitate ;)
I want to promise everybody reading this letter that Heavenly Father most certainly answers our prayers. I cannot express my knowledge of this enough. As I have gone through discouraging times out here in the field, the Lord has never ceased to show me miracles and allow the Spirit to comfort me and carry me on throughout the day. What an incredible blessing that is. I challenge all who read this to rely more on the Spirit, and strive to recognize the blessings that Heavenly Father gives you each day. You could have a list of a billion things each day if you wanted. Then I challenge you to thank Him for those blessings!
Funny story. The first night with Sister Nuttall and I in our apartment, we were having spaghetti for dinner. Well, I ate 2 plates of spaghetti, a PB&J, and 3 bowls of cereal. I forgot to tell her I eat a lot...so after dinner she was just sitting on the couch watching me laughing. Haha now she just likes to watch me and see how much I can eat :) I've still got it!
So about Sister Nuttall! What another incredible answer to prayers! I could not ask for a better trainer. She is so knowledgable in everything about missionary work. I am enjoying working with her so much! She goes home next month, so I am so grateful I get to start my mission off with somebody so experienced. I have learned so much from her, and I thank my Heavenly Father every day for sending me to her before she went home!
Well that's all for today. I just wish I could express adequately in words the feelings of the Spirit out here in the field. I find that the more I focus on others, the more the Lord blesses me. It's almost not fair how much He spoils us. But all the more reason to be so grateful and loving to all those around us, and especially to our Heavenly Father!! I love you all so much. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is, without a shadow of a doubt, Jesus Christ's church here on the earth. It has His authority, and His work cannot be stopped. This work will move forward without fail. I love this Gospel, and I love all of you! Talk to you next Tuesday!
Love,
Sister Biggs
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