10-10-2017

   It was CANADIAN THANKSGIVING yesterday!!!!!! 

     I AM THANKFUL FOR ALL OF YOU!!! 

The areabook for the Fort Mac area is a little bit insane!! The list of potential investigators is HUGE!!!! And a good portion of them have never been contacted besides when they were first found!! Our mission president has asked us to "clean" our areabook by going through our potentials list and trying to make contact with them, and potentially teaching them!! We stop by potential investigators basically all day everyday, and most of the time no one is home!!       This past Sunday we were doing this and we only had a few minutes left before we needed to head home for the night! We decided to stop by a self referral from 2015 (yes, there are people that haven't been contacted since as far back as 2013) that had requested a Book of Mormon! We asked if the person was home and they said no one by that named lived there! It was a little awkward for a brief moment, but whatever!! We introduced ourselves as missionaries and explained why we were looking for the other person! We shared the fact that we have prophets here today, and it is because of the modern day prophets that we know that through the power of the Atonement of Christ we now have the ability to be sealed to our families for time and all eternity! We are sealed to our families through the blessings of the temples of God! She asked where our temples were and basically asked if her family could be sealed together!! 

    God leads us on wild goose chases sometimes to find His most prepared children! There are no coincidences, mistakes, or "oops", especially in the Lord's work!! Everything happens for a reason, I promise, so make the most out of every situation!!! 

    God's plan for each of His children is PERFECT!!! We NEED to listen to the guidance and council of our Heavenly Father, because He will ALWAYS lead us to a Happy Eternity!!! 

I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH AND AM SO GRATEFUL FOR THE MANY KINDNESSES AND SUPPORT YOU ALL GIVE ME!!!! 

️ /Sister Ball 

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️

10-3-2017

I AM IN FORT McMURRAY!!!!!! 

I am so pumped to be in this area for a plethora of reasons!!! 

1st, when my uncle served in this mission he lived in this area!! So there are great expectations!!! 

2nd, I am really distantly related to people in this area!! 

3rd, IT IS THE FURTHEST NORTH THAT SISTERS GO!!! AND I'M HERE FOR THE WINTER!!!!!!! 

4th, it seems pretty great in general!!!! 

This week started with transfers, and my receiving 2 new companions!!! Sister Beauchat and Sister Moon!! This is Sister Moon's first transfer in the field, so Sister Beauchat and I are trying to show her the ropes and not scare her off too quickly!! Haha!!! Also, Sister Moon is the Neice if a member in my ward back home, Suzanne Moon!!! And her grandpa baptized Sister Brock's mom!!!!! Crazy stuff!!! 

We haven't uncovered any connections with Sister Beauchat yet, but I am sure we will find some!!! 

After transfers, before heading back to our areas we had a Specialized Sisters Training,  or in other words a sisters sleep over in the city!!! A lot of Elder's were really confused on the point of this training, because "why are the sisters getting extra training, especially when the Elders are the ones who need it?" 

This training was actually 50% party, 50% prep for life as a wife and mother!!! 

The party half was Thursday night, we watched BEAUTY AND THE BEAST!!!!! 

I CRIED!!! I LOVE Beauty and The Beast!!!!!!! 

The more spiritual part occurred the next morning! We had multiple trainings on things such as using Preach my Gospel to raise our future families!!! A lot of it was things that president would like to express to us as we are departing from the field, but he can't then because there are Elder's there!!! Haha!!! 

The greatest thing of this week was definitely General Conference!!!! The only thing greater than hearing from the prophets and apostles of God would be if God our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Holy Ghost were all there physically!!! For me a good portion of everything said was concerning the blessing that Christ's gospel is in our lives, and we must do EVERYTHING in our ability to teach our friends, families, and others about the good things of Christ (which is everything)!!!! 

The greatest blessing in anyone and everyones lives is the gospel of Jesus Christ!!! The gospel is the basis of everything we do in this life, and if will do more than help us return to heaven. It brings peace, comfort, joy, happiness, and so much more as we travel to our eternal destination!! The gospel of Christ give's us the ability to spend eternity in a place greater than anything we could ever imagine!! What would be life without the great joy of the gospel?

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️

9-26-2017

Not really a chicken...

This week was absolutely AMAZING!!! And busy!!! For a good portion of the time we felt like chickens with our heads chopped off... But a busy schedule is better than no schedule!!! Today is just as busy, because I am leaving Whitecourt!! I'm gonna miss this area SO MUCH, but I know that sister Brock has got this, and she is going to take great care of our little "baby"!! Haha!! 

In the past week we had an AMAZING miracle!! Within the first few weeks in Whitecourt we tracted this street and came across a man named Pete. Pete was a little interested, but told us to just stop by and share more messages with him, and maybe one day he would invite us in!! Well... He invited us in this week!!!!! We haven't actually been able to go in and teach him yet, because he was leaving for the rest of the week last time we were able to stop by!! 

We have been studying a talk given at the MTC years ago called "Becoming a Consecrated Missionary", and it is absolutely AMAZING!!! Within the talk it says "What is the driving, motivating force for a consecrated missionary? It is the Savior and His Atonement. If we fail to be obedient, if we fail to be humble, if we fail to be fearless, perhaps we intellectually understand the Atonement, but somehow we fail to grasp the underlying love of his sacrifice. Once we feel that, as well as understand it, we will be driven to give our all. We will realize that our all is a small repayment for his all."

This is SO True for every aspect of life. When we truly feel and understand the effects of the Atonement in our lives, that is when it doesn't matter what is asked of us. Our Savior gave us His ALL, so how could we not give our ALL back to Him. I challenge all of you to pray and ask our Father in Heaven what more you can do to show your love and gratitude to Him, and then do it. I Promise that Heavenly Father will bless you with the strength, comfort, and peace that is needed to make through any and every trial!! 

Alma 22:16

️EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️, 

9-19-2017

SOMETIMES THEY FIND US!!!

THEY FOUND US!!!! Those who need Heavenly Father's help will be guided to it!! And i am SO GRATEFUL that I get to be a part of that help!!

Sister Brock and I went to our investigator (Steph) s home. We didn't have anything scheduled, but we felt prompted to stop by.  While we were there sister Brock remembered this relief society activity at the church, so we convinced Steph to come with us, and her kids would stay with the babysitter that was there. While we were at the church for the activity Steph seemed really uncomfortable at first, but slowly started to get more comfortable, and she started talking more. She got so comfortable that sister brick and I didn't have to stay by her side the whole time. Shortly after Steph started getting more comfortable we heard someone come into the church house, which was weird because everyone we were expecting was already there. 

    A lady in our branch went to see who it was, and she came to get me and sister Brock. When we went out there were two girls we had never seen before. They were looking for a class and they were kinda lost. We introduced ourselves to each other. Their names are Josephine and Isabelle's. They asked if we had that specific class going on. We said no, but if they came back the next night we might be able to help them. 

    The next night we met at the church and we decided to give them a church tour. (a church tour is exactly that, most people don't actually know how an LDS church building is set up or how the service works, so you show them the chapel and classrooms that they will be in, when they'll be in there, what they'll do in there, etc.) At the end of the church tour we were in the relief society room and we asked if they had any questions before we actually taught them. Isabelle said "yeah, I've been wondering how I can get baptized?" then Josephine said “yeah, I would love to get baptized too, and can kids get baptized?" We told them yes, and the process of getting to a point where they can be baptized (receive all of the missionary discussions, and be interviewed) and they were so excited about it!! We then talked to them about the restoration, and all four of us almost started crying, the spirit was so strong!! That lesson was one of the most powerful and spiritual experiences of my life!! They set their baptismal date for December 12th!!!!  

Heavenly Father knows the best things that will help his children, and even if they don't realize it... They are being guided exactly where they need to be! He watches out for us! He gives us the support and strength and comfort we ALL need!! I feel like a lot of (if not all) my emails talk about the great love our Father in Heaven has for us!! But it is SO TRUE!!! There is Nothing truer or more significant than the fact that He loves us SO MUCH!!! His great love for us is the source of EVERYTHING we have, ALL that we are, and without Him we would be completely and infinitely lost. We wouldn't even be here. 

Mosiah 27:3   &    Alma 42:23

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️

9-12-2017

Our New Ride🚗🚗🚘🚙

Wednesday morning the housing coordinator and her husband texted me and Sister Brock, inviting us to supper at their house!! That night we stopped at their home, which is half way between Edmonton and Whitecourt, and ate tacos with them!! We had been in Edmonton for a Zone Conference, and a temple trip, and they knew that we would be driving through their town around supper time, so they asked us to stop by!! They are the COOLEST old couple!! He LOVES cars, and he built the cars in the pictures!! He let us take pictures in them to show off!! (so here is me showing off his beautiful cars)

Sunday evening we went to a members home, who is so excited to have sister missionaries!! She talked to us about how evil men are, and how we have to be careful when we get home from our missions, and that we shouldn't ever be fooled!! Haha!! It was way weird! Thinking about what we talked about with her, logically we feel like we should've been scared out of our minds... But this sister carries the spirit with her so strongly that everything she said to us comforted us in ways we didn't know we needed to be comforted!! 

It is things like that, that are a testiment to me of how well our Father in Heaven knows us!! He has prepared for us everything and anything we could need, we just have to listen to the guidance of the Spirit to find and recognize the blessings!! 

We had an Amazing lesson with a lady we found over 2 weeks ago!! We had tried to contact her a few times, but she was sick and seemed almost annoyed that we kept trying!! But when we finally got her at a good time we were able to sit down with her, she turned out to be SO GOOD!! She has so many questions that the gospel has answers to, and she soaks everything in!! She was explaining to us that she believes that God is in all of us and in everything, so we talked to her about the holy spirit, and she said that it makes so much sense!! She is incredible and she is so prepared for the answers of the gospel!! 

I KNOW that Heavenly Father prepares us, His children, for our greatest challenges. He gives us the tools we need to find strength, comfort, direction, peace, joy, etc. etc.! When we use the tools he has given us, being the Book of Mormon, prophets, prayer, the gift of the holy ghost, church, etc. etc., our relationship with Him will grow and we will be able to endure ALL that is put in our path! 

PS - Sister Brock and I have matching pants!!!!!!!!! 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!! Ether 12:27

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️

9-5-2017

RING  RING  RING  Miracles are calling!!!

This week was chalk full of SO Many miracles!!! 

First, our cars tires were bulging and separating, but we would've had no idea if we hadn't taken it in!! We took it in because we were hearing a noise, but the car people didn't hear anything!! This was a miracle because if we hadn't gotten our car checked out for the noise no one would've noticed our tires, which would've meant we would've driven 600 kilometers and our tires would've popped!!! We would've been stranded in the middle of the bush!!! 

Next, WE LOST OUR PHONE!!! This was awful because we have smartphones!! We were so upset because we knew that we were going to lose our presidents trust and we knew that those phones are super expensive!! We called our district leader and his companion on FB messenger and asked them to phone us so we could find it!! A lady answered and said we could come get it anytime!! Earlier that day we had been parked on her street to walk to the park to contact!! We never were that close to her house though!! She found our phone on the railing of her porch and she was about to open the phone to see whose it was when it started ringing!! While talking with her we found out that her husband was investigating the church a few years ago, and he is still searching for the truth!! We are SO EXCITED!!! Angels literally took our phone from our possession and placed it on her railing because we NEEDED to talk to that lady to find her, her husband, and her family!!! 

I was told something super profound and SOOOO true this week!!! And not only was I told this, but I have experienced this every day since!! As you expect miracles, you receive miracles!!! This is SOOOO TRUE!! Our expectations lowering are the only reason we see fewer miracles... We blind ourselves to the miracles our Heavenly Father is constantly raining down on us!! 

I LOVED learning that this week because I was expecting/started off my week with a horrible attitude!! I was expecting an awful week, but when my STL, sister Jarman, shared that with me my whole week changed into one of the best weeks ever!! And I have witnessed countless miracles in the past few days!!! 

I LOVE ALL OF YOU SO MUCH!!!

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️

8-29-2017

We Saw a Moose!!!

On Wednesday we were driving out of the bush (the Forrest) from a supper appointment and we were stopped by a moose in the middle of the road!!! Sister Brock was able to check that off of her mission bucket list!! AND we got to hold one of our investigator's birds!!! The birds even danced for us!!! 

This week was SO GOOD!!! We were able to find 6 solid potential investigators, commit 2 other investigators to baptism, with one of them on date!! We had really good appointments with most of everyone else, and were able to have some really cool conversations with people who aren't interested, but are super spiritual and appreciate us as missionaries!! 

One lady we found almost a month ago is a kindred spirit of mine!! She is the cutest old lady ever!! Her name is Yvonne, and she is sweet and sassy!! We taught her most of the Plan of Salvation the other day, and she just gets it!! She seems to understand that this is the path to greater things for herself and her family!! 

I studied humility, diligence, and virtue one day this past week, and I think doing what I could this week to apply those things is what helped those people so much the past few days!! Simply, humility is giving our Heavenly Father all the credit, because he deserves all of the credit. We wouldn't be able to do anything we do if it weren't for him! (Helaman 4:13) Virtue is doing all we can to think good things. Striving to not give into the temptation of thinking about things that are not holy or Godly!! Thoughts occasionally pop into our heads, but we must do all we can to reject those thoughts!! Diligence is striving to do what is right in all things, all times and all places. Working hard to do what God asks of you!! God knows what will help us, so when we do it with all our heart might mind and strength we will surely be blessed with growth and improvement in our lives!!

I know that the work is progressing, whether or not we notice it!! I know that by applying the things we learn to everything we are as individuals we will be strengthened!! GOD'S strength is SO MUCH Greater than our own strength, for if we were left on our own we would fail in every way!! God won't abandon His children!! EVER!!!! 

2 Nephi 26:23&24 (Sister Brock's favorite scripture) 

️WITH EVERY STEP THE WORK IS PROGRESSING!!! HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE!!! ️