Good Times in Nanaimo {week 51}

Hello world!

Transfer calls were this Saturday and it turns out I'm staying in Nanaimo!!!! I couldn't be happier! I love it here so much! I'll sadly be saying goodbye to sister Yraguen who will be transferring to Surrey! I've loved being companions with her! I'm also excited for my new companion, Sister Bawden! She was in Courtaney last transfer so I've already been on a couple exchanges with her and she's awesome! 

As always, it's been a great week! I love being a missionary so much. We've been meeting so many amazing people lately. A couple of days ago we met a man who moved from China 2 years ago. He was excited to see us and said he's been wanting to learn more about Christ so he's been trying to study the bible. We told him about the Book of Mormon and he got really excited. He wasn't raised with a Christian background so he was wanting any opportunity he could find to learn more about Christ. We set a return appointment for Sunday night and brought a member with us so we could go inside his home and teach him. When we got to his house on Sunday night he wanted to walk to the Tim Hortons across the street and have the lesson there since his house was a little messy. However it was Sunday we didn't know how we felt about having a lesson in a Tim Hortons. We remembered that a member of our ward lived a couple of houses down so we gave them a quick call and asked if we could bring him over and have the lesson in their home. They readily agreed and we ran over to their house. It was pouring rain as we knocked on their door, so it was quite dramatic. They let us in and quickly set up some chairs. We had a powerful lesson about prayer and how to receive answers from God. All 3 of the members who were there added to the conversation and the spirit was so strong. At the end of the lesson the man said that he had heard of some Christian people in China and had gotten to talk with them a little before he moved here. He said that talking with them led him to finding us. It really made me think about how God is truly preparing His people to hear His gospel. Even people who otherwise would not be able to. 

I am so grateful to those members who spontaneously opened their home to us and our friend. It was so kind and I really admire how willing they were to help us and participate. It really shows me that if we put the Lord first, everything that matters will fall into place. I want to be someone who is willing and ready to respond to the promptings of the spirit as quickly as possible. There is nothing better than being the answer to someone else's prayer.

Speaking of which, we experienced another miracle that really showed me just how much God does listen to our prayers. On Saturday afternoon we had a lesson with another new person we had just met. The lesson went pretty well. As we were driving away we passed the house where a less-active member of the church lives with his daughter who is not a member. The ward council asked us to find a way to contact them. We had stopped by before but they hadn't ever been home. Randomly I pulled the car over and we decided to try and see if they were home. We walked up to the house and the front door was already open. We knocked on the door and this lady came and invited us in. It turns out she is the man's mom and was just visiting for the week. We had an amazing visit with the three of them and set up a time to come back. As we were leaving the lady walked us to our car and told us how her son and grand daughter were going through a really hard time. She didn't want to push the church on them but had been praying that we would stop by. She thanked us for being an answer to her prayer. It was a miracle. 

Honestly we saw so many miracles this week I could write a book about it. 

I love serving in Nanaimo so much! I am so grateful for the gospel. It's what motivates me to be here. I know that because of Jesus Christ, I can overcome and accomplish anything He desires me to. I think most of the time we don't realize the full power of prayer and faith. Sometimes it's easy to just say a prayer without thinking about it. But in reality we're not just randomly talking to no one. We're literately talking to God, the most powerful, perfect, and loving being in the universe. And He listens to us! Not to mention He has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost! I don't think we realize the gravity of that statement! He has given us a power that is beyond ourselves to accomplish things we couldn't otherwise do on our own. Moroni 7:33 says "and Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in my ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me." Whatsoever thing means whatsoever thing! That's anything! We can actually receive answers to our prayers! And better yet, we can actually be the answer to someone else's prayer. I don't think there's anything more rewarding.

Have a great week everyone and don't forget the divine reality of who you really are.

Sister Bloomfield

Life! {week 50}

Hello Everyone,

This week was one of those weeks where I don't really remember what happened much. It went by so fast. We have transfer calls this Saturday and I can hardly believe it. This transfer has been like the blink of an eye. 

Nanaimo is one of the awesomest places ever! I love it here! This week we were able to have a lesson with that amazing couple we found last week! We taught them the plan of salvation and when we were finished they said "wait so you girls aren't really part of a religion?" We were kind of confused so we asked them what they meant and they said "this isn't a religion, it's life." That statement really struck me. It's so true. I'm not walking all around Canada campaigning for some church. I'm helping people to know more about life as it really is. God has a plan for us and that impacts the course of our life. It is life.

The COOLEST miracle happened the other day! At the beginning of last transfer Sister Yraguen and I ran into a random lady at the dollar store. It turns out she is a member's sister. That member is a convert so none of his family are members of the church. She gave us her address and for the past 2 transfers we've dropped by her every now and then but haven't really gotten anywhere. Then the other day we had a feeling we should go see her. When she answered the door she was on the phone but hung up to talk to us. She was really upset because she lost her phone in Comox, which is a bit away from Nanaimo. We had a prompting to pray with her that she would find her phone so we said a prayer with her. She then gave us some ginger ale and said she had a lot of stuff she needed to do (side note- people here in Canada are like obsessed with ginger ale). We left and didn't really think much of it. Then that night we got a text from her brother. Apparently he was the one who was on the phone with her when we knocked on her door. After they hung up her brother decided to call her cell phone just to see what would happen. And some body answered! The person who answered was someone who found her phone and was willing to drive all the way back to Nanaimo to return it! Right after we left the member called his sister back and told her the news! She could hardly believe it and told him about how we had come over and prayed with her. He took the opportunity to bear his testimony and invite her to meet with us! It was AMAZING!! We should be seeing her again soon! That makes me so happy because we've been stopping by her for months now!! God really does answer prayers.

This Sunday church was fantastic! Before church on Sunday Sister Yraguen and I were in our apartment getting ready when we got a random call from someone who was wondering when church was. He just looked up the church on line because he wanted to come. We drove to the church and met him there. He got there really early so no one was there yet except for one lady who got there to set up for something. We opened the doors and the elders were standing at the end of the hall! Which was another miracle. We were able to introduce them and he was able to stay for church! It was pretty cool. Happy Fathers day by the way. May was able to come again. She's such an amazing person! I'm so happy for her! The elders also introduced us to a girl from China. She is just 20 years old and met the elders at the soup kitchen we sometimes volunteer at. She volunteers there too. She stayed for all three hours of church! She said she didn't understand it but she liked it! She is so awesome!

Being a missionary is such an opportunity and a blessing! I am so grateful to Heavenly Father. He's a lot more aware of us than we think He is. That's for sure. I've been thinking a lot about the power of the atonement. It can help us to not just forgive ourself and others, but to forgive past experiences. Meaning, the power of the atonement can help us to just move forward and be happy. Life is uncertain, but one thing is for sure. It will always be ok because of Jesus Christ.

Sister Bloomfield 

P-day Fun!

Making tie-dye shirts

Car Selfie

2 week old puppy

Car selfie!

A Holy Place {week 49}

Hello Everyone!

It has been such an amazing week!!! So many great things have happened and I have learned so much.

This week the elders introduced us to this AMAZING girl! I will call her May. She has met with the elders a couple of times now and she has loved learning about the gospel! We started meeting with her and I am blown away by her! She has been searching for the gospel and it touches me so much to see how the gospel touches and changes people's lives. We taught her the plan of salvation and the spirit was so strong. We were all almost near tears multiple times. One thing I've been realizing is how a knowledge of the gospel increases our understanding of who we are. Our understanding of our self worth multiplies by 10 with a knowledge of the plan of salvation. It is a beautiful things to see. May says that she first time she saw the elders from on top of her balcony (she lives in a complex on the 2nd floor) they looked like angles in their bright white shirts so she waved them over and started talking to them. Honestly, everything about this has just been a miracle. She will be getting baptized in July :) it makes me SOOO HAPPY!!!! 

May also came to church this Sunday! Church was amazing yesterday. Someone said something in sacrament meeting that really struck me. He said "if you don't like me, that's not my fault." I had never thought about that before. It hit me so hard. As children of God, we are incredible to Him even though we make mistakes. On my mission I've realized that I tend to beat myself up a lot. But mentally abusing myself is not something God ever intended. We will make mistakes, we are imperfect, but God will never give up on us. In gospel principles we had a lesson on Charity. As part of the lesson we talked about the ways to obtain charity. One of the first ways to obtain it, is to love ourselves. Because Christ said to "love thy neighbor as ye love thyself" How are you supposed to love your neighbor if you hate yourself? One thing I've tried to do is think about how I talk to myself and then ask the question "would you ever say that to someone else?" If it's too awful to tell another human being, then it's probably not the best thing to say to myself. 

On Sunday after church we were in a neighborhood knocking doors. The 2nd door we knocked was a man who doesn't believe in God and spent 30 minutes trying to convince us He doesn't exist. After we left my blood was boiling. And as the scriptures say the spirit of contention is of the devil, so feeling angry is never from God. Sister Yraguen and I walked for a couple of minutes passing multiple houses without knocking on their door. Finally I decided that I'm not going to let a negative emotion control me. As human beings we experience negative emotions. But we are also given moral agency, the ability to act and not be acted upon. I wasn't about to let that angry man control my actions. So without thinking we just turned and started walking up a random drive way. Honestly, I was expecting them to not be interested. Especially by the initial response we got when they opened the door. But then they invited us in and asked a ton of questions and we taught some of the restoration. They are some of the coolest people ever! We're going to see them again next Sunday and they're coming to church! It also turns out they have a lot of family who are a part of the church! It was such a tender mercy. If we had just continued in the spirit of contention that man left with us, we wouldn't have found them. 

Wow so many cool things have happened this week. About a week ago we met this girl. Our only interaction with her was about a 2 minute conversation on the doorstep. She was on the phone and all she said was "come back later." We walked away and didn't even write down her address. But every day I just couldn't stop thinking about her. A couple of days ago we decided to go back and miraculously we found her house. Her and her fiance opened the door and were really happy to see us. They said they like to have long debates about Christianity and have a lot of questions. So we'll be seeing them again later tonight! It was such a miracle! The spirit was so strong. 

One thing I know is that God really is there and He wants to make Himself known to us! Because He is there I know that I will hold on to the gospel with everything I have. Life isn't always going to be easy, but we knew that before we decided to come here. One of the lyrics to one of my favorite EFY songs says "when He is with you that's a holy place." I know that when we stand firm in the gospel, even in hard times, wherever we are will become a holy place. Our hardest times are sanctified by Him. 

I hope you all have a great week!

Sister Bloomfield

Giant Hamburgers {week 48}

Hello Everyone!

This has been such an awesome/crazy week! It feels like forever since I last wrote! 

This week we had the craziness of MLC and Zone conference! On Thursday we had to drive down to Victoria (2 hour drive) then ferry over to Richmond with the Victoria STLs. We had an amazing MLC! The big topic of conversation was technology. President asked us if we wanted to get Facebook now or latter. We had a huge debate about it. Not everyone was on the same page but the spirit was guiding the conversation. It was so strong. At the end of the discussion we made the decision to implement Facebook now. It was an incredible experience that I learned a lot from. I learned that God truly is at the head of this church. There is no doubt about that. When the apostles meet and discuss decisions within the church they must come to an unanimous decision. Not a single one of them can feel wrong about something and have the decision still made. That's not an easy task, pulling together 15 completely different men from completely different backgrounds. But because all 15 of them are striving to put the Lord's will above their own the spirit guides guides any decision. Nothing is done in the church without the support of all the apostles. It felt a little like that in MLC. A lot of people were really nervous about introducing social media. But as the spirit guided the conversation it was clear what we needed to do. What God needed us to do.

So now I'm on Facebook as some of you may have noticed! Just to let everyone know the only reason I'm using it is for mission related things. So if anyone outside my mission messages me or anything I won't respond until I'm home! 

After MLC on Friday we took the ferry back to Victoria with President Wong, the assistants, the Nanaimo zone leaders, the Victoria zone leaders, the Victoria STLs, and a senior couple. As you can imagine, we were quite a sight to behold haha. It was awesome because we were able to discuss with President ways we can help the Victoria and Nanaimo stakes reach their goals. I absolutely love this work with all my heart. It is so incredible to me to be able to be spending all my time and effort on helping other people to learn about Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for this gospel and the privilege I have of being able to share it with others. I know this is Christ's true gospel on the earth. None of this would be possible without Him. 

On Saturday we had an amazing zone conference! A wonderful lady from the Victoria 2nd ward made all us missionaries giant hamburgers! It was really funny watching all of the missionaries try to eat them! It was also an incredible experience to hear more direction from President Wong on how we can be better missionaries. I want to be better everyday, taking it one notch up everyday. 

On Sunday we had a bit of a miracle! Like 8 different people told us they were coming to church and none of them showed up. We were a little sad, but then this lady walked through the door! She used to be meeting with the sisters but then stopped. She is dating one of the elder's investigators and asked us to meet with her! She also asked a bunch of ward members the qualifications for baptism! It was such a miracle! I know this gospel is true! We should never lower our expectations because God has so many miracles in store for us! 

I love being a missionary so much!

Sister Bloomfield