Dear all,

I had my first companion exchange this week! Basically, we switch companions with another pair of sister missionaries. So on Monday night, we drove to Brantford and I continued with Sister Dayton(she's a Sister Training Leader). It's so funny because she recognized me from Toronto YSA since she served there in April when I came back from school haha. So it was really fun being with her. Our first lesson that evening was with the Wu family (maybe we're related...from way back) and they were so sweet. They were baptized a few years ago and have two sons; George, the younger one, was born blind and didn't really want to play the game we planned. But we taught them about keeping the Sabbath Day holy and eventually George got a little more comfortable with us being there. His parents were always patient with him and were such great examples. It was also my first time teaching a Chinese family on my mission, so it was really exciting :) And also one of the few times I actually got a chance to speak Mandarin on my mission haha (although they spoke Mando and Canto)

1) On Tuesday, Sister Dayton and I were originally planning to have four lessons but two of them cancelled because they were sick. I know that there are no such thing as coincidences on the mission because despite the cancellations, we got the opportunity to share the restoration with two people we met outside! The first person was an old man and we sat down beside him in the park and just had a nice discussion about what we believe in. He had some really great questions and accepted our invitation to listen to the prophet during General Conference this coming weekend! And the next guy was in those travelling wheelchair things and was really really excited to talk about Jesus with us. We talked about the Atonement and how to love as Christ did and set an appointment for the next week! Since this is happening in Brantford, I'll never see them again, but it was my first time having such long discussions with people we met just contacting!

2) On Thursday, we taught a returning member named Ana. Her husband Sol isn't a member but is super supportive of her beliefs. Before we began the lesson, she shared an awesome personal revelation experience with us. The day before, she was just at work, and she saw a woman personage dressed in white, saying to her, "It's been 3 years." But Ana didn't recognize her, or understood 3 years since what? Turns out that woman in her vision was Sol's mother, who passed away 3 years ago. This experience truly reminded her that if it's been 3 years since she passed, then Ana needs to start doing temple ordinances for Sol's parents. Because both of them have been waiting for that long!! Crazy right? Personal revelation is such a real thing, and it's interesting because she had to call Sol's sister to confirm the anniversary of their mother's passing because Sol didn't know. It worked out perfectly with the lesson because we were teaching the plan of salvation! We really discussed our life before and after earth and some about family history work. By the end of the lesson, although Sol still didn't have an interest, I'm sure he was touched by Ana's experience. She's now determined to find more of his family's names to perform temple work and is committed to coming to sacrament meeting every Sunday. I love hearing member's experiences because it really strengthens my testimony, especially on family history work.

3) Lately, it's been hard finding new people to teach because we don't have much time to contact. And when we do contact, not too many people talk for long. Understandable...But Saturday night, I prayed that we would meet people that were ready to learn about the gospel and Sunday, we met Yohan! After sacrament meeting, he walked into the chapel and told us he was curious about what we believe in! He's Ethiopian and was really pleasant. God really does answer prayers, and we desperately needed someone new to teach too haha. We set up an appointment with him for this week so I'm excited :) Our other investigator Gerald doesn't seem to be progressing since he's not keeping any of the commitments we extended, like reading the Book of Mormon. And before he even came to one sacrament meeting (he slept in last Sunday), he's already seeing his friend's church this week. Sigh

4) The General Women's Broadcast was Saturday night! I love General Conference because there are so many great speakers and they're truly inspired to say what we need to hear. Before it began, our Relief Society had a potato bar for dinner (it was delicious, I love homemade guacamole and mango salsa as toppings) and I talked with Ariana most of the time haha. I'm so grateful she lives her and is always willing to come teaching with us! During the broadcast, Sister Linda S. Reeves from the Relief Society Presidency talked about staying virtuous. A few things she said that really stood out to me was (paraphrased),

"This life is a time to prepare to meet God, not a time to receive ALL the blessings" and

"How small are our sufferings, if those trials are what qualify us for exaltation?" (okay this one, I'm sure it was phrased better when she said it...so look it up)

I love these quotes because sometimes when we live according to the commandments and seem to do everything right, we still might have challenges that seem more difficult than those who do not do all they can to feel the Spirit. But if every person challenge we face strengthen our faith and help us come closer to Christ as we rely on him, isn't that worth the experience itself? And everything we experience is something we can learn from, because our earthly life is a probationary period, to prepare to live with Heavenly Father once again :)

So as we put our faith in Him, all that is wrong in our lives can be made right. I'm so grateful for the Atonement because we are able to repent and become better.

I'm super excited for General Conference this weekend because we get to listen to the prophet and his apostles! I hope all of you can watch all the sessions and prepare any personal questions you might want answers for as you watch.

On a side note, please pray that my visa arrives soon! I report to the MTC on Oct 14 so I really hope it comes soon as October is almost here. It would suck to stay here for the winter...

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Wu