November 25, 2013

"I belong to The Chruch of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow Him in faith. I believe in the Savior Jesus Christ, I'll honor His name. I'll do what is right, I'll follow His light, His truth I will proclaim!"  I remember singing this song in primary so often, and it has begun to mean SO much to me!

Hello brothers and sisters! Hope you had an Awesome week. We sure did over here, as always! God is SO merciful to His children. It is so humbling.

This past Saturday, the Pai family in the ward (Chinese) invited us over for dinner to meet with their friends! It was so wonderful! They had a mom, two daughters (17 & 14), and a baby boy. I couldn't believe how prepared this family was! We talked to them about baptism, and they said they were all just baptized in another church in March. They said they were baptized with water sprinkled on them. We talked about the way Jesus Christ was baptized, and how the proper authority was necessary. Their eyes lit up as we talked about the Book of Mormon and told them we have another record of scripture on earth in addition to the Bible! The whole family was at churuch yesterday. It was so incredible. Brothers and sisters, take it as a hint that members missionaries are going to be the key in hastening the Lord's work!! It is so vital!

On a side note, for dinner we had Salmon eggs, uncooked salmon, seaweed, and rice with some sort of eyes in it. God knew I needed to be sent to North America where food was similar for the most part...because that was a struggle for Sister Tutt and I. We gagged down every bite while they couldn't inhale their food fast enough!! We were dying after. We had to eat when we got home later that night to put regular food back in our bodies :)

Speaking of food, Thanksgiving is this week! Yikes! I totally forgot until I read all your emails. They don't have it here, so everybody is already on to Christmas. Sister Tutt and I will be celebrating with large bowls of cereal and perhaps some mashed potatoes :) I can't wait! I pray that the Lord may provide us with opportunities to bring people unto the Savior on that blessed day!

Well, a quick experience before I wrap up. This week James and Jen, the people we are teaching who are planning on getting baptized December 28th, didn't come to church. No particular reason, just didn't come. Not only did it break my heart knowing that they are not fully progressing toward entering into a covenant with our Heavenly Father, but it really made me reflect on why we go to church every week. Why do we keep the Sabbath Day Holy? Why on earth is that a commandment from our Father in Heaven? As I sat there in Sacrament, a quote by John Bytheway came into my mind, clearly from the Spirit. He says, "Our great-grandparents called it the Holy Sabbath. Our grandparents called it the Sabbath. Our parents called it Sunday, and now we just call it the weekend." This is so true of today's world. It is heartbreaking to see what the Sabbath Day has come to. As we go tracting and contacting on Sundays, rarely are people keeping the Sabbath Day Holy according to what the Savior has asked us to do. Often people are shopping, playing soccer games with wild crowds, or having hockey practice with young kids' teams! Teaching a child that "anything goes" on the Sabbath is so sad. Of course I can't judge people by what they decide to do. But I just love the scriptures and in the Doctrine in Covenants it says "That thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the workd, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day". I love it! This is the only way we keep ourselves unspotted from the world - to keep the Sabbath Day holy! So vital!

Well, I love you all so much, and I pray that all goes well this week. talk to you soon!!

Love,

Sister Biggs

November 18, 2013

So many miracles this week!! First things first. When did November get here, and why is it leaving so soon? At the beginning of my mission, time couldn't go fast enough. Now I can't keep up with it. Funny how that happens. We were fiilling out our planners for this transfer and it goes to the end of December. Unacceptable! The middle of July will certainlly be here too soon. Time to get to work!

This week we dropped by to see a woman in the ward named Joanne Carter, who hasn't been to church in who knows how many years. She is 77 and has just gotten comfortable with not going. Still has a strong testimony though. So we dropped by, shared a spiritual message with here, and the Spirit was so strong that she opened up so much.  She spoke with us for a while, as we discerned with the Spirit what her real concerns were. Well, thanks to Heavenly Father's incredible grace, she was at church with us on Sunday. My joy was overwhelming when I watched her walk in all dressed up with her hair done. She was smiling from ear to ear ALL 3 hours. And on top of it, she came to super saturday the day before! I have never seen somebody so happy as she was. THAT is more evidence and strong testimony to me that the Church is true. For the feeling the Spirit brings cannot be ignored. The Lord is so merciful to allow Sister Tutt and I to be a part of that miracle!!

Our friend Kelly who is investigating the church and her daughter Iris who is 6 years old also came to church again this week for the second time. This time was extra special though. It was the primary program. And to make Iris feel welcome and part of the family, the Primary President Sister Cardno gave her a speaking part and gave her a book so she could sing along with every song. Her mom and us sat two rows away from her and could hear her sing EVERY word as if she had been a member her whole life. People walked up to her after and asked if they were new move-ins to the ward. My heart was full as I enjoyed this experience with this beautiful family!!

I absolutely love serving with Sister Tutt. As I said last week, she lives about 3 miles from where I live back in Mesa. Right around the corner from Sam and Sheila's home. I love her to pieces. We have only been together a week, but I know with a surety that this will be an incredible transfer. Companions are not just thrown together! I KNOW that President Tilleman is called of God! What a privilege it is to serve with this wonderful Sister!

Gail Workhoven now has a baptismal date for December 21st. She received a Priesthood blessing yesterday by two incredible men in our ward. She has about every disease in the book keeping her from going to church. But I know that according to her faith and our faith, the miracle of healing will take place. PLEASE keep her in your prayers that she can make this covenant with God for Christmas!

This transfer is a 5 week transfer, instead of the usual 6 so that those going home can get home before Christmas. So it will certainly go way too fast. I must get back to work! Also, my mom knows what I need for Christmas if you are planning on sending something. But if you want, just donate to the Church Missionary fund so we can get more people out :)

This week's challenge is to read Elder Holland's talk from this past conference. Enough said.

I love you all so much! Please continue to pray for missionary opportunities and let me know your experiences! Take care!!

Love,

Sister Biggs

November 4, 2013

Good afternoon brothers and sisters!! What a blessed week here in the greatest mission on earth! As always, I have no time to write. So here are a couple highlights of this wonderful week!

First of all, I think there's some confusion in what my calling is as Sister Trainer Leader. We just have the same roles for the sisters as they do for the Elders :) I thought that would help understand more of what we do. But I absolutely love it! Being Sister Trainer Leader, I have NEVER been more tired in my life. Remember when I was working full-time, going to school full-time, teaching primary, and coaching high school basketball all at the same time? Yeah. I would pick that any day. We literally crawl into our beds and can't even throw the covers on so we just lay there and next thing you know it's 6:30 and time to wake up again and go somewhere else! When I finally get home from to Arizona, I am sleeping for the first week. :)

Saturday evening we received a phone call from the Assistants. They said that President Tilleman just returned from being trained by Elder Ballard, and that he felt very strongly that the leaders of the mission needed to step it up. So, he gave all us zone leaders and sister trainer leaders a challenge to set a baptismal date by Sunday night - in the next 24 hours. We gladly accepted, then looked at each other, and prayed like we have never prayed before. We have no progressing investigators, and no one who has been to church in weeks. This one was ALL on Heavenly Father. It was POURING rain outside, so when we finished our prayer, we started walking back to the car so we could drop by a few people that came to mind. We realized however that we were running out of time. So, we ran as fast as we could in skirts and boots in the pouring rain for 2.5 kilometers back to our car, stopping and talking to anyone we saw on the way. We had no idea who the Lord needed us to see and reach! So we ran like never before so we could find them! When we finally reached our car, we had many names come to mind. So we jumped in, sopping wet, and got to work. Unfortunately, we weren't able to talk to anyone that evening. So, we had until Sunday night. We went to church at 9:00 am, took the Sacrament, and then left right after the Sacrament because we needed to find who the Lord wanted us to find! So we ran all over Langley, literally, to fulfill this commission given to us by God's chosen servant here in British Columbia. After every single person that came to mind was not interested or not available, we pleaded with Heavenly Father for a miracle to happen, that he would lead us to who he wanted us to teach. He told us  and we felt it strongly to go to Gary Clair's home. An East Indian man that we have taught once, who doesn't even know if there is a God. We spoke with him on his doorstep, and then within 5 minutes, he was committed to baptism on the 27th of November because he said he felt it was true! Brothers and Sisters, have miracles ceased?? No! The Assistants called us for our report on the Lord's errand,  and we were thrilled to report that we had put in the effort God needed us to do, and to find Gary. I cannot imagine what it would have felt like to talk with the Assistants and tell them we had not found who the Lord had prepared for us to find. How grateful I am that the Lord blessed us for our efforts. I slept that night like a rock after all that running in the rain :)

Here is a quote from President Hinckley that I really enjoyed that I forgot to send:

"Today many sisters are being called to serve. Many more are preparing to serve. Not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do. But because they have the desire to serve. One reason that the Lord wants more sisters to serve, is because within the next generation He will send His Priesthood army to the earth. He wants to send choice Spirit children to mothers who have been prepared, properly trained, and taught in the Gospel. What better schooling can a mother have than the experience and growth she gains from serving a mission?"

What a blessing it is to be a missionary!!!!

This week has been wonderful and I absolutely love being a missionary. I never want to take this name tag off. There is nothing better than serving the Lord full-time. For this week's challenge, I just hope and pray that each of you will bear your testimony to somebody this week. Whether you are a member of the church or not, tell somebody that you Know there is a God. Or that Jesus Christ is your Savior. Or something! We must reach out to those hands who hang helplessly down!

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week this week!

Love,

Sister Biggs