December 22, 2014

PLAYAS!!

DEE, KENDRA, MARIO, AND NOAH: They came to church and it went so well!! We've been meeting with them for a couple weeks but this is the first Sunday they came to church, and they loved it! Dee (the mother) has a little baby and after sacrament meeting there were a ton of ward member ladies who just surrounded her to tell her how adorable her baby is. A girl in primary came up to our 8 year old investigator and invited him to Sunday school! And as Dee and Kendra walked to Gospel principals so many ward members came up and introduced themselves. They felt so comfortable in the ward and are excited to come back next week. We also had a lesson with them on Saturday night and the Relief Society President came with us. Her testimony added so much to the lesson and the spirit was so strong in their home. We are excited to spend some time with them on Christmas Eve and help them work towards their baptismal date on January 11!

ROSS: We had another really good lesson with our investigators Ross and Denise last night. I met Ross on the bus a couple weeks ago and I'm so glad I talked to him! Yesterday he told us that he thinks he met me on the bus for a reason and he now wants to find out what that reason is! We both testified that it did happen for a reason and this is what he is looking for! The member who came to that lesson is a recent convert and was able to related to Ross in a lot of ways. He bore his testimony about receiving revelation for himself that this church was true. It was so powerful, and Ross invited Paul to come back with us on Saturday! Lots of good things happening with Ross but some crazy things too. He asked us is we considered watching porn a sin... "um. YES." He is married and we thought it was to Denise, who he's living with and has a baby with, but it's to another lady. And he doesn't know where she is. So law of chastity is going to be super fun to teach. But they both have such a desire to know if it's true and with God, all things are possible. It could take a while but they will probably be baptized someday! 

PAUL: He's the member that came with us. He got baptized less than 2 years ago and is so solid. He's from Russia and I can't understand everything he says but I always smile/laugh when I talk to him because he's always smiling and laughing. He brought us 2 bags of food to the lesson last night for us. SO NICE! And whenever he shakes our hands he bows. HE'S ADORABLE. 

FANCY FACE: So we were on our way home from church yesterday and I asked this Jamaican man if he was excited for Christmas. Well once we started talking I realized he was totally creepy. He started asking us if we were married and stuff so we started ignoring them and talking to other people then he called out to us, "hey, fancy face!" BAHAHA what!?!? I've never been called that but it's kinda funny. What's not funny is that they got off when we did and literally started following us. They were in front of us the moved to the side, we passed them, and then they followed us for like 2 blocks. I started getting nervous so I texted "Don't walk home, they're following us. Let's just walk to Lawrence." Sister Bott read it so we just passed our apartment and walked to a more crowded area. We stopped and talked to people and we eventually lost them. BUT SCARY RIGHT!? I was so nervous for the rest of the night that they would randomly appear.

RAPE KISS: We had a meeting at the church on Saturday night and the Spanish ward was having their Christmas party. They invited us to come eat with them. SO NICE! We stayed for like 15 mins because we hadn't had dinner yet and it was like 7:30, but anyways, I met this man Juan and he kissed my cheek. At first I just thought it was a cultural thing that missionaries could do but I guess it's not. All of the Spanish missionaries were laughing. woops. Rookie mistake. 

CREEPER OF THE WEEK: "Where can I meet you next Daytona? Can I phone you sometime Daytona?" Yep, he's back. I don't know why he randomly decided to text us but we haven't replied and he's texted us 4 times... AHHHH

GHETTO: So yeah Weston is crazy Ghetto. I think half of the people I talk to are part of a gang. And they all wear lots of bling bling. The other day we were walking home and we saw a legit fight!! I was surprised so stopped to watch. Well that was dumb. I didn't think they could see us but then I made eye contact with one of them and got freaked out so we booked it! haha just two white girls watching a fight. Yikes. I hope both of them are OK.

DINNER OF DEATH: This sweet lady invited us over for dinner. We thought it was so nice of her until we tasted what she had made for us. OH MAN, to this day we have no idea what we ate... We think there was some chicken involved (mostly fat and bone) and then some red stuff... I asked her what it was but I couldn't understand her answer. I ate as much as my stomach would allow. Maybe 6 bites. But the smell. I was trying so hard not to gag. Also, she has never learned to chew with her mouth closed and would stuff the nasty stuff in her mouth and would start talking. Well part of her bite ended up no my face. NO JOKE. And she didn't notice, I wiped it off as casually as I could. Anyways, I like American food a lot.  

HOUSES FROM HEAVEN: There is this amazing, rich, adorable neighborhood in the very south corner of our area. We wanted to carol there one night so we could feel safe and look at the adorable houses. I'm seriously taking my camera next time I got in the neighborhood. The houses are like cottages that are too perfect to describe. Pictures will follow maybe, hopefully next time. You should all google Rivercrest rd that's close to Bloor. You'll die. 

QUESTION: In Mosiah 18:12-18 when Alma and Helam entered the water was Alma baptizing himself or had he already been baptized previously? 

ANSWER TO LAST WEEK: Jaredites, Mulekites, and Lehites 

Oh man, looking over this there are a lot of negative things... I'm so sorry! I promise I'm loving it here and the work is going well! We taught 17 lessons this week, we were busy but it was awesome! We are in a super awesome area. Some areas near by are getting like 6 lessons a week. Sister Bott is AMAZING!! We are so happy all the time. We get a little hyper at night but when we are allowed to! And we are getting so much better at teaching in unity and with the spirit! YAHOO. I love her and will die when we get separated. It better not be next week. And I love the Weston ward so much! Oh, I'll send a picture of everything they gave us. They aren't rich people but so generous! A lady made us hats, and we've gotten scarves from another lady. Lots of people brought us food! And one lady gave us a candle. We have serious thank you notes to write! 

LOVE YOU ALL and can't wait to talk to you on Christmas! 

 Temple and snow! We got like a foot :)

 My foot was pretty cold for a couple days! HA but I got new ones last week!

 What the relief society sisters gave us! SO SWEET!

 I hate birds. We tried to kill or maybe just hit one with our french toast... Missed but that picture is funny because it stuck to the wall! haha

Saying bye to Elder Cowley (in the middle). My zone leader for the whole time I've been here.