The Work of the Lord Continues

I have truly enjoyed a rich and wonderful mission experience. I am so grateful for this time I have had to devote my whole self to the Lord's service. I feel rooted in the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel prepared to make this upcoming transition with hope and faith. I am excited to see you! The future looks bright :)

I'd like to close this last letter with my testimony:

I will forever be indebted to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have been changed through faith on His name. The power of His Atonement is real, and it is available to us every day. We can change, as can those around us. There is hope in the gospel of Jesus Christ. As we are obedient to that gospel, we eliminate Satan's influence. We have the power to shake his kingdom. He has no power over us.

Jesus Christ is light and truth. As one of His representatives, I have witnessed His power to turn people from darkness to light. This power is real. We can access it, and change the lives of others forever.

Jesus Christ consecrated all. He never once forgot who He was or what He was sent here to do. I will continue to take up my cross and follow Him - wherever He needs me to go, whatever He needs me to do. I will forever be a disciple of Jesus Christ. He is my Master, my Shepherd, and my Friend.

I bear solemn witness of His divine power, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Always a disciple,

Hna. Cannon

Amanda is coming home!!

Hello friends and family,

On behalf of Amanda, I thought I would post here, her sacrament meeting and openhouse information.

Amanda will be speaking in sacrament meeting on August 17, 2014 at 9:00 am at our church which is located at 10200 S. 1300 W. in South Jordan, Utah. We will have an openhouse following the meeting at approximately 10:30 at our home 1408 W. 10250 S. -- just about a block south of the church on YWorry Lane.

We are so excited to see her and hug her and hear her voice!!

Love to you all,
Vida

Happy day!

Hello hello!

We had a great week that ended with a beautiful baptism! Raquel and Raymundo are so amazing and prepared. They both bore their testimonies after getting confirmed on Sunday. It was amazing. It was such a joy to be a part of that. I'm so proud of them. They deserve it.

I just love and enjoy every day. I am so grateful to be a missionary. This is truly sacred time. I'm studying a lot lately about being a consecrated missionary. I plan on doing so until the very end - which will never come! Always a missionary.

I read Hebrews 11 this week and I loved what it said. I was reading it in Spanish and in verse 5 it used the work "trasladado" which could be translated to mean "translated" (like it says in English) or, "transferred." So it could mean, "Before he was transferred he had this testimony, that he pleased God." It was a sweet moment for me. I felt the Lord was also giving me that testimony. I feel a huge sense of fulfillment and that my mission is an acceptable offering to Him. All I want to do is serve Him. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to do so.

I love you! Have a great week.

Hna. Cannon

The Joys of the Gospel!

Hello hello!

Another wonderful week in the Great California Ventura Mission.

I got to have my last exchange in my first area! That was wonderful. We also got to go to the temple! That was a really incredible experience. I was able to give an accounting to the Lord for my mission. I love the temple.

I have had so much joy in sharing the gospel this week. I've learned a lot about being grateful in our circumstance. It is sad when so many people reject this wonderful message. But I have learned that my joy comes in sharing it, in feeling the power of the spirit of the Lord working through me. I have felt like such an instrument this week. Our lessons have been incredibly powerful. I've been learning to find my joy in that even if they do not accept the message.

Sylvia is doing so well! She is such a miracle from heaven. She came to church again on Sunday. She is getting so involved. There's a sister in the ward who just had a baby and she signed up to bring her dinner this week! She loved everything she learned at church. She already gave a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet to someone at her work! She loved it and said she wants to take lessons from the missionaries too! We've only been teaching her for two weeks and she already said she wants to work her hardest to bring everyone to this church and help them to know the truth. She has definitely been chosen and prepared by the Lord. She is amazing. She is preparing for baptism on August 30!

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week :) Share the gospel with your friends!

Hna. Cannon

Sugar free is not for me

Hello wonderful family and friends!

So I am just going to launch into a story from this week. On P-day my companion, Hna. Brown and I went to Winco and noticed ALL THIS sugarfree chocolate. We thought - that is brilliant! So we proceeded to buy all our pennies could manage. It was delicious.

We then had an exchange the next day in Oxnard, my first area!!!! It was wonderful to be back and to see how much the area has grown. I was with a brand new missionary. During studies in the morning my stomach was just not having a good time. And my head felt like a knife was going through my brain. I blame the sugar free chocolate. I considered rescheduling the exchange but I had a feeling I should stay. I just tried not to think about the pain and just worry about this wonderful new hermana I was working with - who is awesome by the way!

Half way through the day we went to visit a lady named Rosa who I taught a year ago! She remembered me and we were teaching at the doorstep. I started to feel like I was going to faint, so I gave my scriptures to the hermana so she could read the verse. I was going to testify, extend a commitment, etc., but I couldn't and instead just said: great to see you bye! We started to leave, she closed the door, and I threw up all over her front lawn. I tried to make it to the car but threw up again in the road. I know, this is not a pretty story so far. Sorry for the icky details!

Anyway, we make it to a park, and the hermana said we weren't leaving til I got some color in my face. So we stayed for a little while and talked about what we were learning from that day. We kept going after that and I felt like I was going to die - but with a smile on my face :) I honestly had a great day! I was in a lot of pain but I was just praying for grace to carry me through. I just took one step at a time and it was a miracle that I was able to keep going. The Lord definitely works miracles according to our faith!

Speaking of miracles, we were able to teach 6 lessons that day and find 5 new investigators. AND we were randomly able to have a member present lesson with these people we ran into! The member said, these are some missionaries from my church, and we were able to teach them right then and there! Awesome miracle. It was so good for the new hermana because they've been facing a lot of discouragement in there area. She said she learned from the day that it's okay to be human and have weaknesses, but when you keep going anyway, miracles happen! I'm so glad hermana was able to learn from this and have the kind of day the Lord needed her to have. I'm willing to be an instrument in any strange way the Lord needs me to!

Well, that's my story for the week.

I love you!

Hna. Cannon

Challenge and Testify!

Amanda with Hermana Brown from Orem at a point called The Cross where you can see the whole ocean!!

Hello hello!

Well we've had another amazing week! Some great exchanges with some solid sisters.

Raquel and Raymundo are the ones who got married, and we just set a baptismal date for August 1! We had to push it back for Word of Wisdom (darn green tea). But they are committed and excited! They honestly were like, We don't even care when it is, where it is, or who comes, we just want to get baptized. We're so excited for them! Their sights are set on the temple and getting sealed there one day.

Lupe de Jesus is a less active member who hasn't come in years and came to church on Sunday with her 3 kids! They loved it and want to keep coming. And they know Raquel and Raymundo! They are neighbors. Hooray for fellowship!

Sylvia is a new investigator. She is golden. She went to an LDS wedding in a church and she loved it. She asked her friend who's a member how she can learn more about the church and he said, Ask the Missionaries! They can help you! And sent us to her door. She is amazing. She cried when we were there because she felt the spirit, loved having us there, and wants to follow Jesus Christ more fully in her life. She said she wants to be baptized! She was so happy when we asked her.

We just know as missionaries we have the power and authority to invite people to make covenants with God - so we should do so at every opportunity! We should always challenge and testify. (There's a really good talk about that I'm sure many of you know). It does so much to make our purpose clear, to help people see their potential and set goals, and to help them increase their desire to follow Jesus Christ. We had I think about 7 people say yes to baptism this week! It takes time to help them prepare of course, but it was exciting!

I know this is the work of the Lord. All we have to do is open our mouths and they will be filled. God is a god of miracles!

Hna. Cannon

Did you know you can make Red Lobster biscuits from home!!

An Eternal Work

Hello hello!

How are you all doing? I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July. What an incredible day to celebrate all the freedoms we have in this wonderful country. I am so grateful for the right I have to not only live my religion, but to preach to others about it every day. Such an incredible blessing!

At MLC this week our new mission president, Pres. Felix shared a really great message. He talked about how this is an eternal work. He talked about the hope is that we as missionaries gain such unshakable faith that our children and our grandchildren with all receive their endowments in the temple. That was incredibly powerful for me. What we are doing out here is so much bigger than we realized. It is bigger than me, this single moment in time. This is the work of eternity. He talked about some different things we'll be doing in missionary work worldwide to better unite members and missionaries. I thought about how much unity I feel with every single missionary. It's amazing to be out here because we are all such completely different people. We come from different places and have lead many different lives. Yet we are all one, because we feel completely united in our purpose as disciples of Jesus Christ and ministers of His restored gospel. It made me think, what if every single member understood that was their purpose? How unified would we all feel with one another? If it were just automatically understood that we are all trying to share the gospel and build Zion, no explanation needed. It made me think how Zion is those who are of one heart, and one mind. We truly are building Zion right now. We do it by all being united in our purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. As members, we have covenanted to do so. We all have that purpose.

This helped me so much to conquer any sadness I was feeling with the imminent coming of the end of my mission. There is no end. With the gospel of Jesus Christ, we endure to the end, and even that leads to eternal life (D&C 14:7). This is an eternal work.

That brought me so much joy! I have a purpose right now, and that will be my purpose for eternity. Transitions will always be a part of the Lord's work. But the work of the Lord continues. And if ye have desires to serve God, ye are called to the work (D&C 4:3). We can always be a part of it if we wish to be.

Hna. Cannon

"You are here to fight for the souls of our brothers and sisters. You only have so much time to do it. Do it well."-Pres. Castro

Hello hello!

So I've had a great first week in Ventura! I love this new area. It's very different from Simi Valley, so I'm definitely making a lot of adjustments. But I am excited to figure out this area and just serve with everything I have! I feel this transfer is testing everything I've learned in my whole mission. I am excited for the opportunity and challenge.

I love my companion, Hna. Brown! She is from Orem and incredible missionary. We are learning so much from each other.

We had a wedding on Saturday! I am so blessed to be here at this time to teach this amazing couple who've been taking the lessons for 3 years. They are now married and they will be getting baptized in mid-July! So excited for them! They are incredible and have such great member support.

We also had a neat miracle on Saturday. We saw some people moving and they let us help them! It was such a great unplanned service opportunity. They told us all about their Mormon friends and asked about our missions. It was wonderful to express our love in that way. They were so grateful. It was a great opportunity to show our religion by example and not just what we say.

I feel like a good lesson from this week was that the most important thing is to express love to people and have the spirit. They are many other good things that we should seek to develop, but nothing should ever take priority over those two.

I truly love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I love the people I have the privilege to serve. This is the greatest time of my life up to this point. I am just giving all I have and enjoying every moment.

Thank you so much for your support and love!
Hna. Cannon

Raquel and Raimundo's wedding!!

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

Hello!

I am going to the Ventura Spanish Zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO excited! A few transfers ago they created two completely Spanish zones and I've always wanted to serve there. They even have district and zone meetings in Spanish! I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have loved my time here in Simi. It's been amazing. I feel at peace and that I've fulfilled my purpose here. The only down side is I won't get to be here for our investigator, Mayra's, baptism this Saturday. She was pretty sad about that :( But she is so amazing and will be such an incredible member of the church!!!! I am so excited for her :) :)

President Castro is going home now :( :( :( I will miss him so much!!! He is a huge reason why I was called to this mission. He has changed my life. He has been such a huge influence on who I am now. I have changed so much for the better, and I owe a lot of that to him. I used to be sad that I wouldn't get to end my mission with him, but now I am so grateful that I got to see his example of how to finish a mission the transfer right before I would. He gave us 100% of everything he had right til the finish. He is an Endure to the End, Doctrine of Christ missionary, and I plan to follow his example. I am going to serve with everything I have every day until I am released, and I will continue to do so afterwards! It's never over.

Hna. Romero and I taught this amazing boy, Brandon, and he got baptized last Saturday!!! He is 10 years old, and will be such a great missionary one day. His sister was the first member of their family, and now him. And their dad just started taking the lessons!!!!! Hna. Romero came and visited and got to be there for his baptism!!!!! It was amazing to see her. I got to meet her family too! She is such an incredible example to me.

So here's a miracle! After nightly planning on Friday we were looking through our former investigators section and found someone named Martin that we'd never noticed before. The address was scribbled out and the TR said he was dropped because they couldn't find him. There was only a phone number so we decided to go ahead and call it right then. He answered, we introduced ourselves, then had a 15 min. conversation. He told us that at 7:00 pm (just two hours before) he took a nap. He was simultaneously dreaming and praying that God would guide Him. It was a really spiritual experience for him and when he woke up he felt he wanted to turn his life around. He started calling family members to reconnect with them and rebuild past relationships. He decided to go to an AA meeting at 9:00 pm for additional guidance. At 9:30 pm he stepped out to get some air and received a call from us right then. He said he believes God heard his prayer and sent us to him to guide him in the way he was praying for. He works on Sunday but he asked if we had any classes during the week, which is perfect because we just barely started a BOM study class last Thursday! He's really looking forward to that. God is a god of miracles and uses us to answer each other's prayers. It was such an amazing miracle!

I love you!!!! Have a great week! Go refer your friends to the missionaries! ;)

Hna. Cannon

Brandon's Baptism

Our cute district!!!! Simi Valley!!!

President and Sister Castro. We will miss them so much!!!!!!

Here's mini President Castro. Samuel is so awesome!

And here's mini Sis. Castro! (far left)

 

2 Nephi 2:6-8

Hello!

How are you? I hope you've had a great week.

We had some great exchanges this week! It was nice to be back in our area afterwards. It is always such a blessing to see that when we really dedicate ourselves to serving the sisters, the Lord takes care of our area. And then as soon as we're back, He blesses us with SO many miracles and so many choice people to teach! It's amazing.

This week I've been studying about humility and the Atonement. I have been reading the chapters on the Atonement in Jesus the Christ during lunch and before bed and it has been a huge blessing. It's made it so that He is always on my mind. I can't stop thinking about Him! I feel so edified and enlightened after studying about Him. As I study I also write in my study journal and answer three questions. 1) What did He do? 2) Why did He do it? 3) How can I follow Him? Studying Him this way has made me come to know and understand Him more on such a personal level, yet at the same time He seems even more incomprehensible to me. This past week any time I have had a negative thought, I just think about Him and it goes away. He was the perfect example of humility and love.  I love to study Him in this way. It has had a huge impact on me. I love the Savior!

The more I think about Him, I just can't help but be overwhelmed with gratitude. I can't even comprehend everything He's done and continues to do for us. I am so immensely blessed with the opportunity to share this message every day. I will forever be indebted to Him. I love this work.

I love you!

Hna. Cannon

Exchanges

Exchanges

 

Exchanges

 

Look who came to visit me yesterday! The Ruiz family from Camarillo! I was so surprised!!!!

This is me and Hna. Faletau!

Full Circle

Hello there!

So we've had a very busy week. We had MLC as well as training/president's interviews for all the sisters. So we went around the mission to give the training for the sisters. It was awesome! Definitely a packed week though. We did not have a single day this week without meetings. Plus we had an exchange this week, so Thursday and Saturday were the only days we had to work in our area. It really does test our faith to not get to be with our investigators, but we trust in the Lord that if we take care of His sheep He will take care of ours.

I got to go on an exchange with Hna. Prestgard this week! We were companions for 2 transfers in Solvang. Did I tell you she got transferred to Simi Vally? We serve in the same branch and she covers our old area. It was so amazing to see the power of the Atonement on that exchange. She has changed completely and looked so happy. It was amazing to see that. She told me about an awesome miracle from Solvang!!!!!!!!

Okay so do you remember the story I told you last Thanksgiving how we ate with some members and they had us sit next to their son Judson who was less active and his wife who was a non member? Well they live in Louisiana and we got to talk to them for that whole dinner and it went so well. During the message we shared with the family the spirit was so strong. That's one of a handful of times where I've felt so much like a representative of Jesus Christ. You could tell they were all really feeling the spirit, and the way they looked at us was how I imagine the Nephites looking at the Savior, as if they would bid him to tarry with them a little longer. But we left on time because we wanted to be obedient. I remember that whole day we were really exercising our faith with everyone we talked to, even more than most days. We had a great day but I didn't really see the fruit from it until Hna. Prestgard shared with me yesterday that Judson and his wife had been taking the lessons from the missionaries in Louisiana, and his wife was baptized. I cannot even describe how overjoyed I felt to hear that. I can only imagine what other fruits have come from the seeds we've planted that we just never see. I remember how obedient and faithful we were that day, and the Lord did not forget that. Miracles happen.

Well, that's all for this week. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week :)

Study Preach My Gospel and read your scriptures!!!

Hna. Cannon

Mosiah 2:17

Oh dear family! Hello!

How are you? I hope you are having a fantastic week!

As always, so much to say, so little time.

All I have to say is I am so grateful the Lord allows me to serve Him. It's so funny how at the beginning you think you're doing it to give something back to Him, as if He is the benefactor. But as I have continued in my mission I have seen that I am nothing without serving God. When I don't serve I am not happy and life feels meaningless. Really, He has us serve to bless US, even though the reason we do it is for other people. Food for thought.

We had an amazing miracle with Zoyla this week! She's been progressing really well, has come to know the BOM is true and received her answer that she needs to be baptized. The only thing holding her back is her husband who's not interested at all and she doesn't feel good about going to a different church without him. We met with her yesterday and for the first time she told us she hadn't been reading in the BOM. We thought that was odd so we just read with her where she was, which happened to be 2 Nephi 32, a perfect chapter to discuss with her. Afterwards she told us that the night before she'd had a dream that she was at church and the priests were sacrificing people - cutting off their ears and drinking the people's blood. She said they were going to do that to her and someone told her to run. She saw a light coming through a door so she ran outside of it to escape. Then she saw my companion and I seated at a round table reading the Book of Mormon. She came and sat with us to read, and she felt happy and at peace. She was obviously so frightened by that dream, but she knows that no one else could have given her that dream but God. She said she feels strongly that she needs to come to church with us and see for herself. This dream was such an answer to both our prayers and hers. She's been really praying for guidance, and I've been praying specifically this week that God would put something in her path to help her see the need to come to church and have a desire to do so. It was an amazing miracle! We also talked about how baptism is the door and she agrees. God is a God of miracles! He hears and answers prayers. He works according to our faith.

Also last week we started teaching Mayra, a referral from a member who is dating her. She is the most prepared person I've EVER taught! She has no concerns, already lives the Word of Wisdom, goes to church, reads the BOM. We set her with a baptismal date this week for June 28 and she was so overjoyed that she started crying. She thought she had to wait a year to be baptized, and she was so happy that it could be so soon. The Lord is preparing people!

This is an amazing work.

I love you!

Hna. Cannon

Mosiah 4:27

Hello!

How has your week been? Wonderful I hope! We've had a great one. The biggest lesson I learned this week is to pace myself. I LOVE my new companion Hna. Faletau (even though I miss Hna. Romero a ton). And I just love being a missionary and I just feel like time is so short! So I definitely overdid it at the beginning of the week. On Wednesday, our first full day together, we taught 11 lessons and found 7 new investigators of 2 new families to teach! It was my kind of day. We just kept going and going and towards the end of the week my body was like, hold on Hna. Cannon, this is too much for me. So I'll probably sleep most of P-day today to recover from illness and rejuvenate for the coming week. Lesson learned for sure. I just love being a missionary so so much and want to make the most out of every moment. But if I really want to endure to the end well, and can't give it all and then crash. I will be more wise this week.

Two HUGE miracles! Jessica, who was raised athiest for all the 21 years of her life received her answer this week that God exists! It was such a spiritual lesson and she was just crying and said she felt so happy and at peace. She's doing so well, reading the BOM, coming to church, meeting with us twice a week. Awesome. And Zoyla who we've been teaching for a month has been so diligent as well with really seeking answers. We taught the Gospel (faith, repentance, baptism,etc) this week. And in her personal reading she'd happened to read Mormon 8! She learned all on her own from that chapter that little children have no need for baptism. So before we even got there the Lord already prepared her to receive her answer. The spirit was there and she got her answer that the BOM is true and she wants to be baptized! She needs to get married first though. But she's definitely becoming converted!

I don't know if there are sufficient words to describe how much I love being a part of the Lord's work. I don't know why God has been so merciful in my life and given me so much and chosen me to be one of His missionaries, but I am so grateful. I've been given so much, and I just want to share it with everyone! The power of the Atonement has never been more real to me. The Gospel (faith, repentance, making and keeping covenants, receiving and following the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) is always the way. There is no other way. If any of you are going through something hard, or if you want to be better, or if you need answers, whatever it is, do these things. The Gospel works. It is true. Christ is our Savior. Isn't that amazing? Now, go tell somebody about it!

I love you!

Hna. Cannon

A God of MIRACLES!

WE HAD THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!!

Oh my goodness. I WISH I had time to tell you everything. So pretty much the theme of this week is God is a God of miracles, and He works according to our faith. I have witnessed for myself that that is true.

Pres. Castro has set us with a new goal to raise our faith. To teach 40 lessons a week! That's almost double of what the previous standard was. I LOVE this goal. It raised our vision so much. Yes, you can just teach people all day long! We didn't waste a single moment of this week. The Lord lead us to SO MANY elect of His children!

I wish I could tell you about all of them, but for the sake of time I'll just tell you about Manny. He is dating a less active member who is ready to come back to church and he wants to investigate, so they're taking the lessons together. We taught the Restoration on Thursday and it was one of the best lessons my companion and I have ever taught together. The spirit was so strong. Manny was so into it and loved what he was learning. Jocelinn was in tears. At the end Manny said, "Out of everything else I've learned and heard, I feel that you are teaching me the truth." We visited him two days later and he was sitting on the grass outside with his Book of Mormon. He looked so happy and excited! He told us he'd been reading for 2 hours and just couldn't put it down. He knows it's God's word because He could already feel the change in himself that day. He came to a baptism with us that day and he loved it. We're so excited for him! We feel so honored that the Lord has entrusted us with so many elect children this week.

I have learned so much from Hna. Romero. We needed each other so much this transfer. We both feel so rebuilt. I was a mess at the beginning of this transfer, but she reminded me who I am. She inspired me so much by her example. Now I feel ready to go and to just completely focus on building up the hermanas and everyone in our stewardship. Hna. Romero and I were talking last night and I just got so pumped! We were just talking about everything we've learned and the future of the mission and everything. Apparently I kept dreaming about it because she said I was sleep talking and said, "Let's do it, hermana! We can totally do it! Let's push Satan!" Hahaha. She makes me so excited. I LOVE THIS WORK!

Oh by the way, transfers. I'm staying! And I'm training a new sister training leader. Don't know if I'm ready for that since I'm still so brand new, but I trust in the Lord. I know He wouldn't ask me to do something that I couldn't. This is going to be an awesome transfer. My companion's name is Hna. Faletau, she's from Samoa. And they're sending another set of hermanas to the branch! So they'll be covering the first area I had here, and we'll just be covering the new area we got last transfer. Hna. Prestgard is one of the new hermanas! It will be fun to serve around her again. So we won't get to teach Maria or the Figueroa anymore. But we'll still see them at church.

Speaking of which, Maria got baptized on Friday, and confirmed on Sunday! It was beautiful. She was so prepared. My companion and I sang "Divina Luz" which is "Lead Kindly Light" while and elder played it softly on a guitar for the accompaniment. Maria is amazing!!!!!!!! She's going to do so well.

I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Hna. Cannon

Maria's baptism!

With cute little girl in pink: Hola!

With Zoyla and little Giselle

Pictures!

Amanda says she didn't have time for writing a nice letter this week (she had to respond to a bunch of my questions about registering for BYU, etc.), so she sent several pictures instead :) Enjoy!

Hey look! Mom, remember when we were extras in the Esther movie? I found me!

In a lighter moment

I hope I get to tell you this story one day ... pretty cool.

Ronald Reagan Library

Look at the USUPER tall elder!!!!! He is 7'3"!!!!!!!!!!

It's a Miracle

Hello! Hope you all are doing well!

So we had another great week of being missionaries! I love being a missionary. I love being a missionary. I love being a missionary. I love being a missionary. I love being a missionary. I love being a missionary. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! Seriously. There is nothing better that has happened in my life up to this point. This is why.

I love what I've been learning this week about enduring to the end. I love to endure well. It is not enough for me to just hang in there. I could just coast along but that doesn't satisfy me. I expect more out of myself and so does the Lord. I want to lay everything I have and all that I am upon the altar of sacrifice. I do not want to hold anything back. To me, that is what it is to truly endure to the end. I want to endure well each day, not simply doing what missionaries do, but really living each day of my mission as a gift of gratitude to the Lord. I only want to give Him my very best. I feel that I entered the realm of grace a long time ago - meaning I exceeded my own strength long ago and it is only by the power of grace that I can press forward. In order to continue to grow in my capacity, rather than be satisfied with the minimum, I have really seen how the only way to do that is by feasting on the words of Christ each and every day. I love to study His word. It is so delicious to me. I love the feeling of treasuring up His word, and then receiving the words to speak in the very moment that I am ministering to one of His children.

We had such an incredible miracle this week with a woman named Zoyla. Her friend who's a member referred us to her. We had our first lesson with her last week. She was interested but was already really happy in life and in her church, so she didn't see a huge need to change. But she let us set a return appointment nonetheless. She lives with her husband, Hector and her 3 year old daughter Giselle. When we came back for the second appointment she had read all of the Restoration pamphlet and had begun the Book of Mormon. She loved it and said it was beautiful. It looked like she had been eating it up. Her first question was, does God really forgive us of our sins? She then opened up to us and told us of a sin she had committed just two days before. She seemed so anxious, and described to us the deep pain she felt in her heart. She was encompassed by guilt and didn't know how to be freed from it. She was so repentant. She just wanted to be clean. The experience that followed was one of the most powerful experiences of my mission. I just held her hand and testified to her of the power of Christ's Atonement. I felt the love of the Savior and His healing power flowing from me to her. I truly felt like a representative of Jesus Christ. I felt as He did when He felt virtue flow out of Him to heal the woman who had an issue of blood. I felt so much love for this woman. She smiled and said she didn't feel the pain in her heart anymore. It was a beautiful experience.

I know the power of Christ's Atonement is real. He wants all of us to come to Him and give Him our burdens. He wants so badly to carry them for us so we don't have to. His love for us is infinite. There is so much joy and peace in store for us if we will just repent. Never wait. Repent every day. I know the Savior lives. I see evidence of that every day. His gospel is true and it is powerful. We all have the incredible blessing and responsibility to share it with everyone.

I love you!

Hna. Cannon

Opposition in All Things

Hello! So, this has been an exciting week.

 

We've definitely seen how there's opposition in all things. Last week was INCREDIBLE with so much going on, so of course the adversary will work super hard on us the week immediately after. I love my companion so much and we are really helping each other fight the adversary.

 

I see the Lord's hand as well as the adversary's hand every day. Every day we must choose who we'll listen more to.

 

I learned something this week about the Atonement and Stewardship. In order to help the hermanas we have stewardship over, we have to go through things in order to know how to succor them. That is the only way. For the Savior to know how to succor us, the only possible way was for Him to suffer the Atonement. He is the Steward over the whole entire earth - all mankind. He had to go through a lot of suffering. So when we have our mini trials and sufferings, we can know that's the price we must pay if we want to be a steward. If we want to truly make a difference in the Lord's kingdom, we have to be willing to pay that price. I see now why we have to go through a lot in our missions. I'm grateful to be found worthy to pay that small price.

 

This week we have found SO many elect people! Preach My Gospel tells us to pray to recognize the people the Lord is preparing to receive the gospel, and boy did we recognize them! Holy cow. You will not believe these people. And how many of them we've found! It was insane. I wish I had time to tell you each individual story. Since I don't, I will just tell you their names: Claudia, Jessica, William, Fabiola, Mariela, Armando, and Petra.

 

In order to fight of the adversary I've really been seeking the Lord's approval. If I just have the peace of knowing I'm doing His will and He is pleased with me, I can handle anything else the enemy tries to throw at me. Last night I was praying to feel that, and the promise in our mission call letter came to my mind, "As you serve with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, the Lord will lead you to those He is preparing to be baptized." It was an eye opener from the Lord. It was like Him telling me, "I have led you to all these incredible people because I know you are giving me all you have. I am proud of you. Stop worrying about what the adversary tries to tell you." That brought me so much peace. I feel great! Now that I know the Lord is pleased I feel like I can go forward with that confidence, optimism, and enthusiasm.

 

I'm excited for another great week! I hope you are too! I love you!

Hna. Cannon

This Life is a Time to Prepare

Hello hello!

This has been the craziest week ever. There is so much to tell you and no time!

First of all, E. Russell M. Nelson, who is the head apostle over missionary work for the whole world, came and visited our mission on Saturday. We've been preparing for it for weeks. I've been repenting like never before to prepare for his visit. We all got to go up and shake his hand. It was such a powerful experience. With the mission being a microcosm for life, I had a huge sensation of preparing to meet my maker. It was an incredible feeling to feel completely clean and prepared to meet him. I want to live every day of my life that way. I always want to be prepared to meet God. I know E. Nelson and the quorum of the 12 are apostles of the Lord. I am so grateful that Christ's church has been restored to the earth today! I am so grateful to serve in the Lord's kingdom. It's the best way to become like him. E. Nelson gave us such great counsel specific to our mission. It was amazing.

I went to my first Mission Leadership Counsel (MLC) on Tuesday and it was incredible! Holy cow. I left feeling so edified. Pres. Castro is amazing. No wonder our mission is so awesome if they're always edifying so profoundly the leaders like that. I want to help pass on the legacy and the culture of this mission that Pres. Castro has established. Our influence is huge. We all have the responsibility of being leaders and representing Christ for each other. I want to live every day of the rest of my mission to uplift others and inspire them to be obedient. It's the only way we can be happy and fulfill our purpose.

Some things I took away from this week are that I always want the Lord to know He can count on me. If He needs a task to be done, I want Him to know I am always prepared and willing to serve Him. I want to always retain in remembrance who I am and what I am doing. The Lord is hastening His work - so is the adversary. There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel both the strength of the Lord and attacks from the adversary. We all need to recognize the influence of each of them every day. What side will we fight for? We make that choice with every decision throughout the day. Will we be exactly obedient or just "try?" Will we take the time to reach out to those around us, or be so focused on our own lives that we ended up losing them? I know the Book of Mormon is true. It has been the main tool in my own conversion. There is such converting power in it's pages. We cannot afford to not study the BOM each and every day. Satan wants our souls - we need to be converted and build upon the rock of our Redeemer through edifying study each day, or else we will not have the strength to fight him off.

I love the Lord. I love serving Him. I wouldn't trade a moment of it for anything.

I love my family so much. I want to be with you forever! I am grateful for the time I have to help others work to obtain that blessing.

Have a great week!

Hna. Cannon

This is my BEAUTIFUL companion, Hna. Romero! I love her SO much. I've known her my whole mission and am so grateful to serve with her. Her whole family are converts - they joined the church when she was 15 and she is from San Diego. This is her last transfer :( :(

MY LITTLE SISTER IS GOING TO CHILE!!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO EXCITED for Sarah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is going to be an INCREDIBLE missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Goodness. That is all that is on my mind right now. HOLY COW!!!!!!! I am freaking out over here. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Okay okay. Trying to calm down. I know I need to tell you about my week. but OH MY GOODNESS!

Whew. Okay.

Well, this has been a great week! I have the BEST companion ever. Hna. Romero is from Mexico City and her family lives in San Diego. I've known her my whole mission because I've always served around her. And this is her last transfer! She is teaching me so much wisdom. She is basically building me up again from the ground up. I am so so grateful for her. She is such a strength to me right now. With this new assignment I've definitely felt really inadequate. We go to all these meetings with these incredible missionaries and I'm like, why am I invited to these? Haha. But she's helping me a lot to just kick out the adversary and trust in the Lord.

It's been fun getting the new half of our area figured out. There's tons of recent converts and none of them have had the new member lessons. So we're going to focus on strengthening them - the branch mission leader and branch missionaries are helping us teach them all. There's a ton. And we're still working with our investigators in our regular area from before, trying to help the Figueroa family and Maria be baptized this transfer. Other people who we're helping progress towards baptism are Josue, Brandon, and Ruben. And Sabdi we hope!

SARAH IS GOING TO BE A MISSIONARY!

Okay sorry. That's really all I can think about right now. I practically screamed when I read that and all the missionaries here at the family history center were cheering.

That is all I can really say at the moment. Sarah, being a missionary is the best decision you will make up to this point in your life! You will never regret it. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Family I love all of you!

Hna. Cannon

Pozole is my favorite

This is Maria!

The Lord's Hand In All Things

Family!

Hello! How are you? I am great. So, transfers are tomorrow! I am staying and going to be covering two areas! Which is crazy because I've also been assigned to be a Sister Training Leader - which means we'll be going on exchanges all the time so not be in our area as much. I'm excited! The work is going so well in the branch, honestly I thought we'd be getting another set of missionaries rather than losing one. It will be crazy covering 2/3 of Simi Valley. This area is so ready to harvest. The work is so so busy. So many prepared people EVERYWHERE, all the time. It's amazing!

With this new assignment I feel really humbled and that I now understand all the trials of these last two transfers. Everything the Lord puts in our path prepares us for something greater. The Lord's hand in it is so evident. Some of the lessons I've learned are humility, love and obedience, putting your companion first, the importance of relationships, submissiveness, open mindedness, and confidence in the Lord. I also feel I have a greater understanding of the purpose of missionary work. I feel a lot of peace about everything that has happened. I am so grateful for the counsel of my leaders - especially the leaders of the church who spoke to us this weekend, who sacrifice so much to know the will of the Lord and always guide and direct us, strengthen us, and love us.

Speaking of which, how AMAZING was General Conference?? There is no denying that those men and women are called of God. I know the quality of the experience we have depends a lot more on our preparation than it does on theirs. It really enriches the experience so much when we come prepared. Every single one of my questions was answered. There were even whole talks devoted to those topics. Amazing! I am so grateful for their counsel. Here's some things I loved:

- The message of living gratitude as a way of life - and how it makes life so much sweeter. I'm already seeing the blessings coming from that.

- Love should always flow from righteousness. We can't really love without being obedient, or be obedient without loving - as it's the first commandment.

- I liked how they said listening and understanding is more important than who is more right. 

- Letting your faith show. Be bold. Stand up for righteousness.

- The perspective of eternity - the 4 minutes. It is a lot like a mission.

- I also loved what they said about the whirlwinds. We should see them for what they are, and how they're making our roots stronger. It helped me strengthen my resolve to do so and to not let the whirlwinds beat me down.

So I'm really excited for this transfer! It's going to be great. I'm so grateful for how merciful the Lord is and how he shapes me and changes me. He sees our full potential and helps us along the way to reach it.

Also, Maria is still just as amazing! She is so faithful. She pretty much spent the whole day with us on Saturday. She went to the morning session of Conference, then went to lunch with us and some members, then she went to work for most the day, then she got together with us and some members and our other investigator Ana to rewatch the RS broadcast because they missed it. It was so good, again! Maria said during the video she was thinking about how her daughter and granddaughter and part of the church and making steps and covenants and how she wants to be part of it. Soon enough! I'm sure she'll get baptized this month. She's doing great.

The Figueroa family still needs a lot of prayers. They're so ready for baptism. They're amazing. The husband is ready, but the wife doesn't feel ready. She is though. We're reading from the BOM with her and trying to help her grow her faith so she can feel ready to take that leap of faith.

Also here's two fun member missionary success stories!:

-We had dinner with the Garcia family, and their friends stopped by with her kids. It was great! We talked to them and shared a message after. We watched a Mormon Message and talked about conference. Their friend said she liked it and wants to learn more and get involved! The family invited her to have lunch with them the next day and watch conference in their home. Yay!

-We went to lunch with some members and Maria between General Conference sessions on Saturday. One of the members saw a for sale sign on a car and she's looking to buy one so she went out to talk to the man while we were eating. She came back and asked for a Restoration pamphlet. We gave her one with our contact information on the back. Then she came back for a pen and paper and went out again. When she returned she told us the man selling the car has a nephew who's on a mission. She said she told him about Joseph Smith and General Conference! She gave him them pamphlet and he said he'd read it. She shared her testimony and invited him to pray to know for himself. And then she got his number for us! She's amazing.

We can all find those opportunities to share the gospel! I loved E. Ballard's talk. It's so important to follow up, to make Preach My Gospel a part of all of our lives, to pray for missionary opportunities, and to set goals.

I love you so much and am so grateful for all your support! I have the best family in the whole wide world. Thank you for always being there for me.

Con amor,

Hna. Cannon

Suffer The Children

Hello! How are you?

So yesterday we got to do sharing time for all the primary kids and talk about how they can be missionaries now! It was the funnest thing ever. They are SO smart! I can't even believe this generation. And all their answers were, "We can go on a mission!" "We can share the gospel!" "We can invite our friends to church!" When I was in primary we just said we should read our scriptures and pray. I love how they Lord hastening his work is just flowing to all parts of the church. Just imagine what the church will be like in a few more years! Amazing.

Maria is doing so well! She's coming to church each week and reading the Book of Mormon just about every day. She loves it. She has tons of questions and loves the stories. She loves coming to all the activities and getting involved with the sisters. She told us that last Sunday she was sad after church and even cried. We were like, Oh no, why? As she described her feelings she realized that she loves church so much and loves to feel the spirit there, and when she leaves she is so sad because she doesn't have that spirit any more. It was so sweet. We talked about how when she's baptized she can have that spirit with her always, and she's really looking forward to that. She's going to do it when her daughter comes to visit.

The Figueroa family is amazing. We love them. Venancio passed his baptismal interview! He's ready to go. But Ana decided to postpone her interview. She says she doesn't feel ready. They were going to get baptized yesterday. So they are going to wait. We are praying for them a lot. We were sad, but they are so chosen, elect, and just amazing that we know everything will be okay. We know it will work out for them. And we're definitely coming back when they all get sealed some day :)

Also, that Relief Society Broadcast was the best one I've ever seen. I loved it so much. Mom, Cassie, Sarah, Cali I felt so close to you during that! Especially mom at that part when they said to smile at your mother - I smiled at you :) I felt so united with all the sisters of the church. We have such an important purpose here. I loved the message of love. I cannot put into words how real the battle we are in seems to me. And God wants us to fight this battle with love. He is not asking much, just that we love one another. Such a powerful message. That is what we need. I LOVE YOU!

Dad, I love you too!!!! :) :) :)

Well, pictures speak louder than words. So I'm going to send as many as I can.

Have an AMAZING General Conference weekend! I am so excited. We have a living prophet and 12 apostles. And they are going to speak to US. Very worth every moment of preparation to hear their words. 

With love,

Hna. Cannon

Exchanges!

They had us be judges for the "Hunger Games" for mutual. Super fun. Our investigator Sabdi came!!

The field is WHITE!

Hello!

So, we had a week of miracles!

First of all, zone conference was amazing. Second of all, I felt an earthquake! First one ever. So I can check that off my bucket list now.

Let me tell you about some of the AMAZING people we have taught this week.

Maria has a daughter in Mexico who's a member of the church, married in the temple and everything. Maria doesn't have family here and her daughter keeps telling her to look for the church. Maria didn't really know how and has just been hoping and waiting that missionaries would find her. The English elders happened upon her a few weeks ago and referred her to us! We've been teaching her for 2 weeks. She came to church last Sunday and the week before and loved it! She got done up all pretty and just had the biggest smile on her face all day. She asked one of the members to pray that her boss would give her Sundays off so she can stay for all 3 hours! She's been able to stay for 2 1/2 but want to stay the whole time :) she's amazing!

Felipe is SO elect. He's been going through a hard time, and Hno. Pinto invited him to a baptism a couple of week ago and introduced him to us there. He came to church last week and said he really liked everyone there and wants to keep coming. We had our first real lesson with him last Saturday. We taught the Restoration and he loved it and accepted everything. When we read Amos 8:11-12 about people hungering for the truth he was like, "That's how I feel! I want all of these things, but I need someone to guide me and help me find them." It was so cool. He talked about how he has this pain in his heart and he wants to be free from that. We testified how the Savior can ease any burden, and told him how our purpose is to help him get there. He readily agreed to baptism and said he wants to be clean. He so willing to act on the message, he wants to do whatever it takes to follow Jesus Christ and be clean again. When we taught about the Book of Mormon and gave him one, he received it as if we were giving him diamonds. He recognized how precious it is and he was so grateful. He is so prepared by the Lord! He is so grateful to have found this church and to be meeting with us. Felipe wanted the truth but just didn't know where to find it. Imagine if Hno. Pinto had never invited him to that baptism? You never know who of your friends the Lord is preparing. Invite! :)

Raquel is Ana's mom, (of Ana and Venancio who are preparing to be baptized this Saturday. *prayers please!!!!* the adversary's working hard on them). Raquel is visiting from Mexico and going back home on Tuesday. She said she's been wanting to come to the states to visit Ana for a while but it just hasn't been working out. She prayed to God that if He wanted her to come, that He would make everything possible so that she could come - and He did. She said that she knows the reason why now. She knows she was meant to come at this time to find the church. She said there should only be one flock and one shepherd. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and knows it's true. She said if she didn't have to go to Mexico she'd be baptized with Ana and Venancio this weekend! But she's going to contact the missionaries when she gets back to Mexico. Which is amazing because their whole family's there, and she's the grandma and the example to everyone, so she can share the gospel with all of them too! Amazing. The Lord is hastening his work so much. And it's all because a 16 year old member of the church invited Manny (Ana and Venancio's son) to mutual and seminary and he joined the church. Then his 14 year old sister Carolina got baptized, and now it's spreading to the whole family. Absolutely incredible.

Also this week I've been learning a lot about love and obedience. I've been told that I talk a lot about obedience in these letters - sorry if it gets old haha. But I've learned something new this week. I've learned that obedience should never get in the way of loving someone. Likewise, loving someone should never keep you from being obedient. Obedience has taken on a new meaning for me. The first commandment is to love. That's what is the very most important thing to God. If I am not obedient to that commandment, all of the other commandments don't mean as much. It was a really good lesson for me to refocus on what's most important. Love and obedience are one in the same, "if ye love me, keep my commandments." They should always go together.

I love you all so much! Have an amazing week!

Hna. Cannon

Here's some cute members we had dinner with at the park :)

The Way

Hello!

Well, in spite of how happy this email will probably sound - I have never struggled so much in my mission as I have this past week. I definitely never been through something as difficult as this in my mission. I didn't even know where I would get the strength to move forward. But after some wise counsel yesterday I feel SO much better. I love Pres. Castro. He is so amazing and so inspired and I am so grateful.

I will not get in to all the sad things, I will just tell you what I have learned.

Oh, and instead of sending me a new companion, they had Hna. Moure be my companion, and they brought in a new English sister for Sis. Stoker. We were shocked! We're adjusting.

I've learned how important it is to rest and not run faster than you have strength.

I've learned that we can always rely on obedience. Sometimes that's all we have. We need those blessings from the Lord. I needed them so desperately this week. The only way I am entitled to ask for them is if I am obedient. Obedience is what gets me through trials - every time. I am so grateful for those blessings from the Lord. He has granted me strength this past month. He has especially granted me strength this past week, as I have none left of my own. He will replenish us.

I've learned how important our personal growth is as missionaries. Our reason for serving a mission is for other people, but the reason the Lord has us serve a mission is for us. He can do His work on His own - but we are His work too, that's why He lets us be a part of it. He knows that we grow so much from learning to live for others. Because he that abaseth himself will be exalted, but he that exalteth himself will be abased. I've learned the true meaning of losing ourselves in the work. We do it for others, but our personal growth is essential. I must make sure I'm living the gospel in every sense. This is just as much for me as it is for them. That is a new concept for me.

I feel so much gratitude. The Lord is so merciful. He will always deliver us.

Redemption can come only in and through our Savior, Jesus Christ. His gospel is perfect. It is the way. All of the answers are in the gospel. No matter what you are going through, you will find all of the answers by coming to Christ through faith, repentance, baptism (and honoring your covenants, receive the Holy Ghost and following His promptings and all times, and enduring to the end.

I am so grateful these truths have been restored to the earth today. This church is the Lord's kingdom on the earth. I know by experience that all of this is true.

I love you :)

Hna. Cannon

Amanda with her new companion, Sister Moure from Texas, born in Mexico. She was a convert, baptized two years ago. She is a powerful missionary. She is doing so much good in this mission.

Last night with Sister Hamlin

Bowling with the district! Yay P day!

Our district! :)