June 3, 2013

Hello my wonderful family and friends!! Wow. Let's just cut right to the chase - I am in the most beautiful place on the earth. No, that is not an opinion. Google some pictures of Victoria, and you will see that it is a fact. Literally everytime we turn a corner my breath is taken away. I cannot believe that God has sent me to Zion here in BC! What a blessing! I never want to leave!

First things first, here is the new address that I live at that you can send all mail to. Don't worry, the postal system is not messed up here like it is in Osoyoos! So everything can go to this address.

571 Warren Place

Victoria, BC V8Z 6E1

Canada

Well, I am training the wonderful Sister Hobbs, fresh out of the MTC last week. Oh what a blessing she is to me and my life. Opening an area is hard enough, but having a new companion, doesn't make life easier. But it sure does make it greater. When I first came out I had a very difficult time with homesickness. Well, now that I am on stable ground and feeling wonderfully, I have been blessed with a companion who was just like me when I first came out! I now know that Heavenly Father allowed me to go through that, partially so that I could help Sister Hobbs. If you know me, you know I am not good at comforting people. But, the lord has given me the words to say and things to do to help her along. She has been out for about 4 days now, and I have only seen her stop crying a few times. But what a blessing. I am grateful that she is comfortable around me. I am trying to keep us extremely busy so that there is no time to think about home. But unfortunately, she has cried herself to sleep each night. I promise Heavenly Father that I will not go to sleep until I know she is asleep each night. So I listen to her, and when I finally hear her stop crying and go to sleep, I fall asleep. I just feel as though I cannot leave her behind. We are Sisters here in the Gospel, and I will be with her every step of the way. Missions are hard. She is understanding that. I don't think she realized the hardness of it. But how grateful she is to be here. I am absolutey so excited to be her companion! I have already learned so much from her. AND, she forces me to overcome my fears. She is not quite to the point where she talks to everybody we see, so I get the opportunity to speak with EVERYONE. I love it though. It forces me to open my mouth and be bold with people.  I hope and pray each day that I may train Sister Hobbs in the manner that Christ would if He were on the earth. What a responsibility He has given me once again, and I hope to not let Him down. I know that President Tilleman was inspired to put us together. What a blessing.

Well, can we talk about how great this ward is? I am in Victoria 2nd Ward. Officially the second greatest ward on earth (Greenfield Park being first, of course). The members we are staying with, I have never seen better. They have been members for about 15 years, and have the greatest conversion story. Anyway, they are so hospitable toward us. They give us everything. We bought all this food to cook with, but they keep giving us food so we never use it! Brother Broadwood made us the greatest chicken sandwhich today with a side of an ice cream sandwich. I know how easy it is to win me over with food....but that's not the only reason I love him :) He is so amazing. He has already given us 9 referrals! And he says he has more! When we first walked into the new ward on Sunday, everybody was so kind to us. Then, after Sacrament meeting, people were flowing toward us with referrals and friends that they wanted us to talk to. Are you kidding me?? This ward has figured out how to be member missionaries! And I know why now. The Bishop, Bishop Palfrey, has only been a member about 7 years. He appreciates missionaries more than anybody I have ever met. Anyway, he pushes this ward to do missionary work so much. Every single lesson yesterday was on missionary work. I was almost in tears the entire time. It was incredible. The greatest part is, this ward now has SIX MISSIONARIES!! 2 sets of Elders and Sister Hobbs and I. There must be some serious work here to be done. So many miracles, too much for one companionship! And I know it is all because of the incredible ward. I challenge each of you to take missionary work as seriously as this ward does. Don't be the judge on whether your friends are ready or not to hear the Gospel. Give their information to the missionaries, and let God decide the rest!

An amazing thing happened at church during the second hour. The Elders here had just baptized Sister Lopez 2 weeks ago, so she was taking some follow up lessons in Gospel Principles with the missionaries. They invited us to come in and join. Well, turns out, she does not speak one word of English, only Spanish. Are you kidding me? It is like Heavenly Father continues to put people in my path where I need to use my Spanish. I now know that I am supposed to be called English speaking, but the Lord has given me so many opportunities to use my Spanish. I study my Spanish material each night so that hopefully I can get better at teaching the lessons. But I have certainly seen the gift of tongues in my mission thus far. What a blessing. I talked with Sister Lopez, and we had an instant relationship. The Elders had always used translators, because neither of them speak any Spanish. But now, she was able to communicate with a missionary. It was such a wonderful experience.

This last transfer meeting was the biggest one the mission has ever seen. 20 new missionaries came in, 12 of them being Sisters!! It was incredible! Sister Hobbs is one of the 19 years olds, and she is so great. As everybody has said before, these new missionaries are so prepared. Neither of us would have been able to be here at this time if it wasn't for the wonderful Prophet who follows the counsel of the Lord. How grateful we both are. After receiving wonderful training from President Tilleman, I was so ready to go get busy with the work. I got to ride a ferry for the first time! As we headed over to Victoria on the ferry, God placed many people in our path to speak to about the Gospel. It was such a blessing. Although Sister Hobbs was almost wetting her pants, she loved it. I can't wait until she starts talking to people too ;)

This week's challenge is to invite your friends into your home for the missionaries to come teach in your home. Sound scary? Well, I think it will be even scarier when we have to face our Maker and tell Him we didn't spread the true Gospel of Jesus Christ because we were "scared". But I will let you choose. Missionary work is a commandment. May each of us follow that commandment, just as we follow the commandment to not kill. Invite a friend over for dinner, and invite the missionaries! The Lord will tell you who you need to invite as you pray about it.

Brothers and Sisters, this Gospel is true. We have had A LOT of door slams the past few days, but that doesn't change the fact that our message is true. Nobody can argue with the principles of the Gospel, because they are eternally true. People can bring up concerns and different things, but if the Book of Mormon is read with sincerity and real intent, the Holy Ghost WILL testify to us of its truthfulness. There is no other way. I love that we get to choose how happy we want to be in the eternities. And Brothers and Sisters, if you want to be eternally happy living with your Father in Heaven, read and study the Book of Mormon and the Bible.  Follow the teachings of our Savior. I hope and pray that each of you will gain your own testimony of the Book of Mormon. For without it, we cannot survive the turmoil that the adversary will throw our way. Our only excape to the fiery darts of the adversary is the sheild that the Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us. It has been restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. My Savior, Jesus Christ, lives. He loves me, and He loves each of you. No science, textbook, or professor, can prove otherwise. For when the Holy Ghost testifies of truth, we know it is eternally true. How sad I am that this entire world has not accepted the Gospel. But I will put my shoulder to the wheel and work my absolute hardest to make sure that EVERYBODY here in Victoria KNOWS that I have a testimony. EVERYBODY will hear from us, I don't care how long it takes, or how hard it is. This Gospel is true. May each of us find that out for ourselves.

I love you all, and thank you for everything!

Sister Biggs