December 15, 2014

SO I thought I would have a hard time during the Christmas season but it's been so fun, like I've loved it!! Sister Bott and I get along way too well. We get a little hyper and crazy sometimes so that's awesome. But don't worry, it's just during the lunch and dinner times.

CAROLING: The first house we went to was bad because I started laughing, but I have a good excuse... My companion started talking and when I started singing... Maybe we should have talked about what to do when they open the door. I eventually stopped laughing but then I was smile singing, which never sounds good. Oh well, the family still enjoyed it and thanked us for coming, so it all worked out. We've had some pretty funny responses. A couple different households left us at the door for a couple mins and came back with money. I guess in the Philippines you get money for caroling? (I don't know why we were caroling in Provo all those years). We didn't accept the money but thought it was sweet of them to offer. One old lady answered the door and her husband was in the kitchen just in his underwear... It was awkward. Especially because he waved at us... Like don't talk to us, get some clothes on.

SHOVELING: So it snowed, LIKE A FOOT! And it's been so pretty and so fun! We've been able to shovel lots which is great, but I feel like my back is broken. The other morning I woke up and my back hurt so bad! hahahaha I don't think I have the proper technique to shovel. Anyways it was worth it because we found two potential investigators and one of them has a family! It's amazing how much service softens hearts! YAHOO.

ZONE CONFERENCE: We had zone conference on Thursday and it was amazing. First of all, I LOVE MY MISSION PRESIDENT AND HIS WIFE. Like, they are theeee best. He is such an inspired man and is changing a lot of things with the mission, so it's exciting. There was a crazy snow storm that morning so our car was an hour late but everyone was super late so it started like 90 mins late. We started out by talking about how we can use the pamphlets more as we teach and did lots of role plays, which are my favorite. PSYCH. But it was helpful. And then we celebrated Christmas a little bit and it was so happy! Some of the missionaries got called up to bear their testimonies and share some Christmas traditions they had, and then we sang lots of Christmas songs from the hymn book. And ended with "The 12 Days of Christmas!" They split us up in 12 groups and when we sang it we acted out our phrase. People got super creative and I was laughing so hard! Totally tearing up. The best. We had lunch which is always great and then we ended with the departing missionaries sharing their testimonies. Wow, the spirit was there so strong!! My zone leader, Elder Cowely is going home and I'm so sad! He's been an amazing zone leader and I have learned so much from him. He's leaving tomorrow, so weird!! But his testimony was so powerful!

PHILAMON: So remember how in my last e-mail I said this guy at the library asked when we had church? We taught him and he's a new investigator. Our message on the Restoration went so well! Sister Bott and I felt like we really taught in unity and we asked so many questions so he could teach himself rather than us just talking to him for 20 mins. Anyways, sometimes he wouldn't respond right away after we asked questions and I would feel anxious to say something but we just waited and they he would respond with the perfect answer. He totally understood priesthood authority which never happens in the first lesson so that was super exciting! We were in sacrament meeting room and at the end of the lesson he said that he liked it here and he felt good inside! Anyways, he's so prepared so we are excited to continue meeting with him!

ESL: We teach English as a service but our intent is to find new investigators and ultimately to baptize :) We had two ESL students at church on Sunday!! YAHOO! Sid, who has been coming for over a month and Fumiko. Sid is amazing but so stikin busy. He's in school full time and is working over 20 hours a week. And his commute to school takes him an hour. But this is the last week for school so we can teach him lots next week! He loves coming to church so he has a great start! Fumkio is from Japan and has been here for eight months. I thought she was 20 and she's 32. SHE IS SO PRETTY! AND SO SWEET! We invited her to come to church after our ESL class but didn't think she would come, but she did! AND she stayed for all three hours! AND she loved it and wants to come back. AND we have a lesson with her on Wed. AND we are just so happy about it! We have been praying everyday to find investigators who are prepared to accept our message and we think she is. She actually has no religious background. Like she doesn't even believe in God, but wants to know if He exists! We can't wait to teach her Restoration!

CHURCH: Nothing has changed. We are always involved with teaching and participating in the meetings and it's awesome! We taught Relief Society yesterday and it was so fun! They asked us on Saturday around 3:00 and we didn't have time to look at it until 9, but we prayed really hard and it went well. We also did choir because our director was sick. We have been trying to develop stronger relationships with the ward members so they trust us and feel comfortable asking us favors and giving us referrals to their friends. So we were happy she called us up. I still love our Bishop. He works in the night time and spends time with his family in the day time so he literally never sleeps and is always so happy. It's amazing to see how much people sacrifice to serve in their callings!

RUNNING LOW ON FOOD: Last week we weren't thinking and spent like $20 on groceries for the week. So the last couple days got a little bit creative. One night we were really wanting a little snack but didn't have bread, butter, cheese, fruits, veggies, practically anything. We had box mac and cheese but couldn't even make that. HAHA Anyways, we had cheerios and like 1/4 cup of milk left and powdered sugar so we tried to make frosting and put cheerios in it. We thought it would be a good idea to clump it up and freeze it... So we put our "treats" in the freezer. #rookiemistake They were so nasty but we were laughing so hard. We'll be better at grocery shopping this week for sure!

CREEPER OF THE WEEK: His name is Zanta. "Santa with a Z." So we're on the bus and he walked on and was wearing a Santa hat and started talking to everyone! "Hello everyone. I love coming onto the bus because it's like a stage and you all are stuck listening to me. My name is Zanta. You've probably heard of me before. But I need you all to record me and post it online." Of course everyone ignored him but my companion and I were totally looking at him because we are newbies in Toronto. So he came up to us and asked us to pull out our phones. We told him that we can't go online and he was like, "well figure something out, this is important." Yeah.... so is the message we share! Anyways our stop came up so we had to leave but we were laughing about it for the next little while. 

We went to teach a potential and he wasn't home. We called and left a message and he texted us back and said, "I've stepped out as I was called into work early. Sorry love." ew.

I think I want to start asking a scripture related questions each week to make things more exciting...

QUESTIONS: There were 3 groups of people that crossed the sea and came to America in the Book of Mormon. Name all 3. (look in Omni if you're a rookie like me)

And I have another question but I don't have the answer. SO someone tell me. Ha When did the great apostasy start? I always thought it was when Christ and his apostles died BUT he came to America and gave his disciples authority to baptize after he was resurrected.... So did it start after they died?

LOVE YOU PLAYAS LIKE CRAZY! Thanks for all the support with e-mails, letters and packages. I'm a lucky sista!

Sister Dayton

 Sorry the windows are blocking your view of the pretty snow! But man, I LOVE OUR VIEW.

Just eating breakfast. HA JK. A member gave that to us at church. It was heavy! And so sweet.... Literally.