Quest of a Lifetime

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I can't believe that it is 2015!  As I look back on last year, I feel I have changed SO much.  I feel like I am becoming who Heavenly Father wants me to be and he is helping me with this molding J I know it’s going to be an amazing year and I can’t wait to see what is in store in 2015.  This is going to be the best year and I am so excited!

My new companion, Sister Turley!

So, with the news from last week that I am training, I was assigned my new companion!  Her name is Sister Turley.  She just turned 19 years old and she is from Seattle, Washington. She had two older siblings serve a mission and she is the second youngest in her family. A Cool story, one of her great-grandfathers was converted here in Toronto by Parley P. Pratt! Crazy huh! She has always defended her beliefs of the church growing up in Seattle and decided to serve a mission. I truly feel the sacred privilege of being able to train a new missionary.  I felt Heavenly Fathers trust after I met her and I will do all that I can to help her strengthen her testimony of Christ and help her be the missionary she wants to become J

In the training meeting when I was assigned Sister Turley, President Clayton gave all of us a commitment to have the new missionaries invite someone to be baptized that day! All of the new missionaries couldn't believe it!  It was great.  So on the car ride back home from Brampton I told Sister Turley "Well, we aren't seeing any of our investigators today so you will have the opportunity to invite someone to be baptized when we meet them. Don't worry, I'll be here to help you." And off we went back to Ajax!  When we arrived in Ajax, I told her about the area, who we are teaching, people in the ward, and what goals we can have this transfer together.  After dropping off her suitcases I told her, "Okay, Lets go find that person Heavenly Father wants us to invite to be baptized!"  I think she thought I was crazy (ha-ha)! I felt prompted during our prayer before heading out that we needed to walk down Kingston Street and followed that prompting. On the way back to our apartment, there was a person walking down the sidewalk towards us in the distance, and I said to Sister Turley, "Okay, Let us show our faith and invite this person to be baptized! You ready?" smiling at her.  I stopped the lady passing by and started talking with her. She was very open.  Her name is Kat.  She is 19 years old and is going to school and working right now.  She had just had a big fight with her boyfriend unfortunately just minutes before, and I told her that it wasn't an accident that we met.  I then felt prompted by the spirit to pull out a Restoration pamphlet and just began to teach her.  I don't remember exactly what I said but I just remember that after I had taught her, I looked over at Sister Turley like, "Okay, You got this!  Invite her to be baptized!" Sister Turley finally got the look and invited her to be baptized when she learns more from us and knows these things are true and Kat said YES! Sweet huh J We took her information and planned to meet with her but she has been super busy lately.  I hope she returns our calls soon. I think from this experience that it really has given Sister Turley hope and a good start for her mission.  I am so grateful for a wonderful mission president and the challenge he issued and for the prompting of the spirit that I was able to receive and then act on!  I have seen Heavenly Father's hand in everything that I do countless times and I am so grateful for these experiences.

Now to some more exciting news!  Louis and Faye are doing amazing!  I love them so much! I was able to talk to bishop on Sunday and he said that Louis renewed his temple recommend and that he would like us to reteach Faye the lessons one more time. We were able to reteach the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation last week. The lessons were SO powerful. Faye and Louis teared up a bit and I continue to see her testimony of the gospel grow.  During the Plan of Salvation she said, "Now I get it.  I understand why we do baptisms for the dead!"  She is really growing and is starting to read the Book of Mormon again.  She loves the Restoration movie and has watched it over and over again in her native language (Tagalog).  The goal that we all have is for them to go do baptisms for the dead around the end of January and to then be sealed in the middle of February!! J I am sooo excited for them and just love both of them so much!  It's great that we are getting the ward involved with their progression in Heavenly Father's plan and to see their testimony grow with mine.  This is what missionary work is about!!  To help everyone come closer to Christ and our Heavenly Father and then help others make those sacred ordinances.  What a blessing it is to be a missionary and help my brothers and sisters.  I love being a missionary so much!

Lastly, we have a recent convert in our ward named Kelly Agard.  She is 14 years old but attends a catholic school and is struggling keeping and strengthening her testimony.  After many calls to try and meet with her, I felt prompted by the spirit that we should drop by on Saturday.  Good thing I followed the prompting of the spirit!  She was home and so were her two older sisters (21 &23 years old) that were baptized in 2006 but haven't been to YSA in a while.  When we stopped by, they all sat in on the lesson and we were able to teach them the Restoration!  The spirit was so strong in the lesson from sharing personal testimonies and events in our lives.  We will be re-teaching them all of the lessons!  And guess what?  Kelly and one of her sisters came to church yesterday!  I am so excited and feel so blessed to have the opportunity to teach them again and to help them strengthen their testimony of the gospel, who knows…. Maybe their nonmember parents will sit in next time! J  I continue to hope and pray, we will ask and see!

Johan from my last area in Whitby.  I was able to see him
while in the trio.  He is getting baptized the end
of this month!  I am so happy for him!

A quote that I love from Dieter F. Uchdorf from last general conference: "The process of  gathering spiritual light is the quest of a lifetime." That is so true!  How blessed we are to always be progressing and to learn and grow in this lifetime.  Let's make the best of it, DO NOT DELAY! It's perfect timing, starting the new year and all, to make some goals for spiritual growth. I know that if we have faith, stretch ourselves a little more, and work towards our goals, keeping them in the fore front, we will see ourselves grow more than we can imagine. It is a promise given from our Heavenly Father to us, His children J

Thank you for all you do! Until next time...

Sister Robb