Llamas and Lethbridge = Livin' the Dream!

Guess what!?! I am not up in Calgary- I am down in Lethbridge - surprise!!! Here's the story - Sister Hoyt and I had an amazing transfer p-day.  We knew that I would probably get getting transferred so we planned out our adventures for my last day there.  Someone told us that along the river bank we could see trees that beavers at taken down.  After walking around the river for about fifteen minutes with no success we continued onto our next adventures: LLAMAS!!! There is a member that has some llamas and miniature horses so we went out to see them.  Sister Hoyt really wanted to touch a llama. After much bribing with grass she finally got one close enough that she was able to touch it before it ran away.  Then we saw the smallest horse I have ever seen! It's a miniature dwarf horse - I think its 15 inches high.  It's probably one of the most adorable things I have seen.  Soooo cute!!!!! We went and said good bye to the Fairbanks family.  Oh they are just so great!!! Then we went home and I started to pack before dinner.  During our dinner appointment we got a call from President asking specifically for me to call him back.  President told me that there was a change in my transfer notice and I was going South to Lethbridge.   When went to our first stop by and after we prayed I was just filled with peace and I knew that I was suppose to be going to Lethbridge.  I was super excited because Sister Hoyt LOVES Lethbridge, she kept telling me that it is the Promised Land. :)

We went to transfer station, Sister Sagers (Sister Sagers played basketball at SUU - She's 6' 5"...I think I come up to her elbow- hehe) and I got on the transfer van and headed down South.  Oh, and I figured out that Sister Rice was my companion! Sister Rice is from Syracuse. The ride down to Lethbridge was great and Sister Rice had no idea that I was coming.  She thought Sister Thrope was going to be her companion, but Sister Thrope has already served in the West side of Lethbridge.  It was sooooo much fun to see all of the Sisters that are in the South.  I was able to see Sister Mazzolini before she went up to Calgary.  We will be here for about...three/four more weeks and then we're heading up to the TEMPLE OPEN HOUSE!!!!

Sadly, since Lethbridge is about two hours south of Calgary the open house isn't as a big of deal as it was up in Okotoks (the Cardston temple is about...45 minutes away).  But I'm just thrilled that we still we get to help out!!! Driving into Lethbridge was super neat because they have a HUGE train bridge!!! We were driving around a bend and then BAM!!! Train bridge! It was pretty epic, like something from a movie. :) I am growing to LOVE Lethbridge!!! People are very friendly here. 

Sister Rice said she saw miracles happen just the first day I was here.  Apparently we contacted people that she's been trying to get in with for six weeks.  We have two investigators: Andrea and Nola.  Andrea is a converted Jew, but she's having some difficulties with the religion.  She's very well read, but very open.  She actually came to church and she LOVED IT! We're hoping that we'll be able to help her with her concerns and that she'll set a date next time we teach her.   Then there is Nola...I have yet to meet her, but Sister Rice says that she's pretty promising. :)

Sister Rice is so great!!!! She's super sweet and I am just thrilled to pieces to be serving with her and I am really excited to be in Lethbridge.  And the temple open house is in less than a month!!!!! Life is so great right now!!!! I will definitely miss Okotoks.  The Sisters up there (Sister Hoyt and Sister Newby) are going to be a powerhouse and they are going to tear it up. 

I just love you all sooo much and I look forward to all of the adventures that will continue to come our way this week! The church is true!!!
-Sister Douglass

We Beat the System!

Dear Family,

well...things are a little different with transfers.  I just got an email that said here are all of the missionaries being transferred to or within Calgary and my name was on it with a bunch of other missionaries.  Sister Hoyt didn't get one so I'm being transferred and she is staying.  Well, up in the top it said "Sister Douglass and Sister Little - Royal Oak and Tuscany" :) That means Sister Little is my new companion and ....wait for it...wait for it... I AM IN THE AREA WITH THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woot!!!! Which means I'll be up there the entire time for the temple open house/dedication!! I'll get to see everything that is happening and going on. Ahhh!!!!! I am still in shock. I don't know what to thing, but it's going to be fantastic!!!! Sister Hoyt is super excited because her companion is her MTC companion.  Crazy, eh?

Hmm...now where to begin? We picked up FOUR new investigators this week!! We taught Susan, who was a referral from a member up in Calgary.  She's so great!! She grew up Anglican and she went to church with her member friend on Christmas.

Then we met with the Browns, another referral. :) They are soooo sweet and they are practically members themselves. Sister Brown sells food storage and has had a lot of powerful spiritual experiences.  Things are probably going to so slower than how we would like them to go, but once they receive a confirmation that this is true and they feel the power of the Atonement in their lives I'm sure they will jump in fully committed.

The fourth investigator is Jacenta, She is a chatter monkey, but she is soooo great!!! We have EVERYTHING she is looking for!! She says that she is looking for truth and a church that offers this and that. Once we are able to get in a teach a lesson I'm sure she's just going to love it!!

We had another lesson with Chris.  He is still progressing in the sense that he's reading from the Book of Mormon and praying and he went to church...but not in our ward. We are really trying to set a baptismal date with him.  I know that once he is able to get the gift of the Holy Ghost that it will help him sooooo much!!

Other adventures we had last week was a HUGE storm came flying n.  We had hurricane force wind and sheets and sheets of rain just pounding down.  Thankfully we were in the car when it started, but we were trying to find a members home that we could take refuge in until it pasted over.  Don't worry, we didn't pile.  We stopped by a member who we have been wanting to visit and share a message with.

I can't believe how much sunlight we have lost already.  I think a week ago it was getting dark around 10 and now the sun is going down around 9.  As Sister Hoyt says, "The End is near!!!" :)

On Sunday a member shared a story that I loved!! It's a children's book called "The Race" it's about a group of boys who are racing against each other and the main boy is good and knows that he'll probably get first place, if not second.  The race begins and he goes a few yards and then he trips and falls.  The crowd chuckles as he does it and he is able to hear his father say "Get up and finish the race".  He quickly gets up and tries to make up for his loss.  But then he stumbles and falls again.  He realizes that he probably won't win, but again he hears his father say, "Get up and finish the race".  He gets up and keeps trying when the boy falls again for a third time. This time he feels beat.  There is no possible way the he will win.  He's about to give up when he thinks about his father and how disappointed he'll be if he doesn't finish.  "Get up and finish the race." The boy comes in dead last, but he gets the biggest recognition from the crowd because he did not give up.  How true this is to our life.  We all fall down flat on our faces sometimes and we just want to lay there and die.  But we need to rely on the Savior- to continually turn to Him.  He's right there besides us with His hand reached out.  As we take the action of getting up and going to Him, He will lift us up into His arms and help us.

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!! I'm looking forward to telling you about my new adventures that will be taking place!
-Sister Douglass

Six Months!!

This week is pretty exciting- today I have one month until my birthday (eek!) and then I will hit my six month mark (six months!!!! Can you believe it?!?!) and then it is the last full week of the transfer.

This week we didn't teach a lot of lessons and the weekend was kind of rough, but we were so blessed that it really doesn't seem like it was that bad.  We had two lessons with Chris and they both went very well.  We are able to feel the spirit a little bit stronger each time that we teach him.  It's so wonderful to see how committed he is to reading from the Book of Mormon.  We will assign him a chapter and he will read it a few times to make sure he understands it.  He's very thorough with his reading.  It's so great!!! Sometimes getting people to read from the Book of Mormon is one of the hardest things to do.  Chris also told us that he has been reflecting on his life and he realizes that the Lord has protected him at least a dozen times from dying.  Pretty intense.  It's just a testimony to me that the Lord has been preparing Chris to hear the gospel.  One of our lessons we focused on prayer and scripture study.  We spent a good part of the lesson on how we receive answers to prayers.  Chris says that when he prays he hasn't felt an over whelming feeling towards things, but that it feels good.  We asked him to pray specifically about a baptismal date.  Then one of the members bore a powerful testimony that with God all things are possible.  That He will help us accomplish what He has asked us to do.

We stopped by Jacenta's again and she was just about to call the doctor because he little boy had broken out with a rash.  We tried again a few days later...no dice, but hopefully we'll be able to get in with her this week.

Haha, funny story.  One of the members of our ward's mother is in town and she's a super pro-active missionary crazy mom.  She gave Sister Hoyt and I some shirts (with strings attached, we are suppose to help her sell them). And it says "Heart Locked: Can't touch this"...:) It was so funny to talk to the mother (Sue) on the phone.  She's hilarious. Sue invited us over to dinner the next day and we ended up being a little bit late and so was Sue.  She kept going on and on and how she was so grateful that she didn't miss us.

Another funny story.  We tracted into this mother, left her a pamphlet and asked if we could come back in a week.  She told us yes.  Let me back up - we were a little nervous to knock on the house because it said that they had security cameras and it wasn't in our rich area either.  So, when we came back to follow up with her their was this huge paper on the door that said that they were not interested in buying anything or in religion and it went on and on and said "so feel free to still ring the door bell but be prepared for a grumpy person to answer." We rang and no one answered.  I'm not sure we will be going back.  Then their neighbor has a sign that says "No Soliciting or Peddlers" Then in marker they added "And Jehovah Witnesses or Latter Day Saints" :)

We have been volunteering at a retirement center and their is one lady that LOVES us. She's so great! We finally cleared things up with them that we are not nuns :) but we are missionaries.  Haha, good times, good times.

We got in with a potential investigator...well I don't know how promising she is, but she would be an incredible member.  She is very devoted stanch Catholic.  We stopped by and she let us in and told us about somethings that had been happening with her just before we came over.  We didn't really have a chance to share a lesson with her, but she is soooo family oriented and we know that the gospel would bless her so much.  She told us that some of her friends don't agree with her believes (like having a big family) and she just doesn't really have the support system from them. Ding, ding- the church would help her so much!!! Relief Society and Visiting Teachers.  She said that we could come by again, hopefully she will be touched by the spirit and want to learn more.

Yesterday was so fantastic!!! I love Sundays!!! It was two missionary farewells in one of the wards.  Both young men are serving in the same mission: Halifax. Then everyone in the ward seemed to be a little bit more missionary minded. :) We got another super solid referral from the Elders.  Its a couple that asked their member friends if they could meet with the missionaries!!!! WHAT!!! Ahh!!! We were thrilled to pieces! We have an appointment set up for Tuesday.  Then we stopped by the Brown family and they also set up an appointment for Thursday.  They are super duper prepared.  Their daughter is already attending YW's and their son is in Cubs. :) This is going to be an incredible week!!! The Lord truly blesses us as we work hard! Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of Heaven!!!
Until next week!!! Love love love you!!!!
-Sister Douglass

K-Country!!!

“You know you’re a missionary when...You have seventeen different tan lines” - Sister Hayes :)

Dear Family,

This week was pretty spectacular.  It started off a little bit rough, but then we were just showered with miracles! We had another lesson with Chris.  He is progressing, he reads from the Book of Mormon every day and prays. He feels that his faith in Christ is growing. It was nice that he said no to the firm invitation to baptism. Not that we wanted him to say no, but because it gave us the opportunity to talk to him about concerns that he has. He said that he's 90% ready to go, but the 10% of him that is holding him back he still needs to work on. Our members that we had at the lesson suggested that we should fast. We all fasted for him on Sunday and Chris also agreed to fast even though he was going to be working a 12-13 hour shift. We did have an appointment for Sunday but he got called into work. When we asked him about fasting and he said he felt like trash. :( But he said he thought it was because he was at work and he really wasn't able to concentrate on being in tune with the spirit. Chris said that he is willing to fast again on Wednesday when he is off of work!! We have a lesson with him today so we shall see how things are going with him.

We had Zone Conference, which was fantastic.  Sister Hoyt and I sang. :) We were going to sing "The Olive Tree" but our accompanist didn't feel ready, so we ended up singing Sister Hoyt's favorite song Hymn 265 or 266 "The Time Is Far Spent". Thank goodness for being in shows and taking voice lessons, I really wasn't that nervous. Yeah! But more importantly we had an amazing training by President Nicholas.  We went over Doctrine and Covenants 4 and he told us the background of the scripture and then we broke it down into verse and talked about each one.  One of my favorite verses that has really helped me a lot on the mission is "If ye have desires to serve God; ye are called to the work." Instead of preparing 3 minute talks for Zone Conference President Nicholas now will call some missionaries up to bear their testimony or teach for 3 minutes.  A little nerve racking, but I'm trying to learn how to be more in tune with the spirit and then teach.  That's mostly what I got out of the Conference.  I just love the spirit that is brought in when people bear their testimonies! And then Zone Conference always gives me the extra boost that I need to help me to keep going.

Our biggest miracle for the week is when we were out tracting we stopped by a members home and asked if there was anyone in the neighborhood that we should try talking to. They told us that their crescent has been tracted a lot, but the wife reminded us that a member family moved out so we should try their house. When we knocked on the door a young mother answered and asked if we were Mormon. We told us yes and then she said "I am so grateful you stopped by." Wow, wow, hold the phone is this really happening!?! Yes it did!! She then went on to ask if guest were welcome to church!! We were dying of excitement inside at this point. She said that she is a huge Glenn Beck fan and "If the church is good enough for him, I might as well give a try." Needless to say we were stoked!!! We set up an appointment for Saturday and her kids ended up having strep throat so we will be trying to catch her this week.  It was so fun to tell the members about our miracle and to see them get excited for us.  We can tell that the Lord has been preparing her to hear the gospel!!

Another miracle is that we got another referral for one of our wards. That's the second pretty promising referral was have had this transfer, which is amazing!!! We have been seeing so many miracles with the Crystal Ridge ward it's incredible.  We know that the Lord will help us to achieve our goal of having one baptism in that ward before the end of the transfer.

Yesterday we went out to Kananaskis for P-day!!! It was soooooo gorgeous!!! It was very nice to be by the mountains again!!! The only down side to the whole trip was the 45 minute drive out there ended up taking 2 1/2 hours both ways.  We were in a fifteen passenger van.....but it was great! We drove to Lake Kananaskis (or Kananaskis Lake...) and then we hiked up to another lake. I believe it was called Rowena Lake, but I could be wrong.  Both of the lakes were incredible! The color was just phenomenal! Ah! I just can't describe it.  The hike up the the lake was just that- up.  The first part of the trail is kind of strenuous, but thankfully it leveled off as we got closer to the top.  And I was very grateful that it was mostly shaded the entire time.  I will try to send pictures asap.

I know that the Lord is aware of us. Our needs, our weaknesses, our strengths, our desires: everything.  He will help us along the way as we turn to Him and truly put our trust in Him. He loves us so much and He wants us to be happy!!
Love and hugs!!!