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
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