June 10, 2013

What a week this has been! I feel like this past week my faith has grown more than ever before on my mission - or in my life for that matter. When I was in Osoyoos, we were finding new investigators left and right. We worked hard, but we always had tons of people to teach. Well, now that we are opening another area, we get to start at ground zero. And that has been a wonderful challenge. Details below!

I absolutely LOVE Sister Hobbs. Couldn't love her more. What a blessing she is in my life. She is so much like Megan, I love it! The Lord has given me a companion to remind me of the incredible sister I have back home. They both have incredible voices, both have Cd's, both do my hair when I ask them, both are absolutely hilarious, and I can just be myself whenever I want! Sister Hobbs is just fantastic. We have literally become best friends in the past week. It has certainly made the hard times much more endurable. Her Sister is a personal trainer as well! So she has this little workout booklet that we do each morning. We are getting in crazy good shape. We will see how long it lasts! I love working out with her though. I can't keep up with her when we run each morning! She is such a psycho! I love it though :) And finally a companion who plays basketball!! I am so excited to be able to play some games with her this transfer. She makes me laugh harder than I have laughed the past 5 months. She has gotten to the point where she does not cry so much, because she is just falling in love with the mission! I love watching her grow. She now speaks with everybody! For example. the other day we were teaching a woman we just met on her doorstep about the Book of Mormon (which she sees no need for). We both bore testimony and then offered her one. She graciously declined and began ending the conversation. Well, Sister Hobbs was not going to take no for an answer. She held the Book of Mormon in her hands, and with tears in her eyes told the woman how much she needed this Book in her life. She placed the book in her hands, and ended speaking. The woman accepted it, hesitantly, but I was amazed at how the Holy Ghost worked through my companion. I am so blessed to be her trainer, because I will certainly be learning more from her than she does from me.

Well, opening an area involves A LOT of tracting (door to door). Before I came here, I was not very fond of tracting. However, I am to the point where I absolutely love it! We tract many hours throughout the day, hitting hundreds of doors each day. Although there are many door slams, and many rude people, this scripture always come to my mind - "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake". With that in the back of my mind, I am reminded that I am doing what is right. I am preaching the truth. Nothing anybody says or does will stop me, or will stop the work. This work WILL move forward, just as Joseph Smith prophesied it would.

Well, I think the bugs here in Canada must be a little bit different than the ones in Arizona. I got eaten alive about 5 weeks ago on my legs, and these bug bites are still holding strong today. I have tried literally everything to relieve the itch and heal them. I have not been itching them, but they are not going away. They are HUGE! So, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. They are not normal ;)

Well, I absolutely love the ward here. I still stand by calling Victoria 2nd ward second best to Greenfield Park Ward. They are wonderful! The members are all about helping us out in any way possible. I pray that every ward may be this misisonary minded at all times!! How much it would help this work progress!

Well, this past week we didn't find a single new investigator. This was only the second week in the mission that I have gone a week without finding one, and it was a faith growing experience, that's for sure! We knocked probably 1000 doors this past week - didn't even get into one of them. But that's okay! Because I have now understood what Preach My Gospel means about our success not being measured by numbers. It isn't! At the end of the day when I hit the pillow with my head, I can know that I worked my absolute hardest, and allow the Savior to make up for the rest of it where I fell short. I am so grateful for the Atonement in knowing that I CAN have perfect days according to His standards here on the mission. It takes work, but through the Atonement it is very possible. We have some good things lined up for this week where we will hopefully find some new investigators. I have always had the faith to find new investigators, but now I have developed the faith to NOT find investigators. It is powerful. I know that the Lord will give us investigators when we are supposed to have them, as long as we are working as hard as we possibly can. What a blessing it is to be able to struggle and become stronger from our trials. Anybody who has served missions before, I would love any unique ways you did personal finding or any cool door approaches that worked for you? I am always up for some input! Improvement is a wonderful thing :)

Well, I have kind of 2 challenges this week - One for those who can attend the Temple, and one for those who cannot. For those who can, I challenge you to go TWICE in the next 7 days and do a session, or do baptisms, depending on your age. For some of you this might be easy. For others I might be asking you to move a mountain. But the Lord has given us His house on earth, especially one right in Mesa! So wherever you are, I challenge you to attend the Temple twice before next Monday. please email or write me and tell me about your wonderful experiences there! The Lord blesses those who do His work! For those who cannot attend the Temple, I challenge you to go walk the Temple grounds TWICE before next Monday. I cannot think of a better way to spend your time. Make it a date night. Take a bike ride to the Temple. Whatever you want. But please, attend. I SO miss being able to attend the Temple whenever I want, and that is something I will NEVER take for granted again. I would love to hear any wonderful experiences you have.

Well, I love you all so much! I hope and pray that the Spirit of the Lord will be with each of you this week as you go about your endeavors. May God be with you til we meet again! I love you!

Sister Biggs