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!!