A Luau! {Week 56}

Hello Everyone,

Lately I've been thinking a lot lately about how grateful I am for the opportunity I've had to come on a mission. Every experience, the good and the bad, is precious to me. I've changed more than I thought was possible and have grown to know and love my Savior more. There is nothing better than serving God. 

We have seen so many miracles this week. I think we get numb to it sometimes because as missionaries we are on the front lines and witness so many amazing things. This week we were teaching the Word of Wisdom to a girl I have been working with a lot since coming to Nanaimo. I've called her May in the past. We decided to teach the Word of Wisdom in a way I never have before. We taught it by teaching her about her worth as a daughter of God. We read 3 Nephi 27:20 with her which says "Now this is the commandment: repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day." After we read that she looked at us and said "Oh, it isn't a choice. It's a commandment." After a pause she said "you don't get to choose to have self worth, it's already there." That really struck me. As children of God we don't choose to be loved. He's going to love us whether or not we acknowledge it. The best way to live, is to live in such a way that we are spiritually capable of accepting the fact that God does love us. We can do that by living the commandments, which strengthen our ability to receive the spirit. God's love isn't a choice. It's always there. But knowing that He loves us is a choice. All the commandments He gives us, are just instructions on how to hear His voice. It really is quite beautiful if you think about it. After teaching May about the Word of Wisdom she readily accepted it and committed to live it. We were also able to reset her baptism date. It's amazing to me to see her progression since I've started to get to know her. She told us that she had gone through hell right before she met us and that the gospel saved her life. Hearing that made me so happy. That's why I wanted to serve a mission. 

This week we also had a ward activity! It was a Luau and was so amazing!!! We had 4 people who are investigating the church come! One is a man from India and as he walked through the door a bunch of members of the church ran up to him and gave him a hug. It turns out a lot of his friends are members! He was so excited and happy! He was also really surprised too haha. He was nervous to come but then ended up having the time of his life! 

We also had this amazing girl whom I will call Anne come. We met her a couple of weeks ago. I can't remember if I wrote about it, but finding her was a really cool experience. We were walking down the street because we felt like we needed to yet there was no people on the street. So we were about to turn around and leave when Anne started coming towards us. I had actually seen her about 20 minutes earlier pushing her baby in the stroller but we were in the car and I was sad that we couldn't talk to her. We walked up to her and started talking to her and she said she really wanted a message about Jesus Christ. So we taught her about the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. We committed her to read Alma 5 which is kind of weird because that's not a chapter we usually give to people when it's their first time reading the Book of Mormon (since it's so long). But when we came back to see her she had read the whole thing and marked it up with pink highlighter. We had an amazing lesson with her about the restoration then this Saturday we were able to give her a church tour. She stayed for the Luau and had an amazing time. It turns out she also already knows someone who has just started coming back to church! It made me so happy to see how much fun every had at the activity. It was also kind of funny to me that we were doing a Luau because as missionaries there is this set of videos we watch called "the district" and it's basically just a bunch of videos of missionaries doing missionary things. In "the district" there's a part where they have a ward activity and it was a Luau! Haha. 

So many great things happen in a week! There really is so much good in life. I hope you all have an incredible week!

Sister Bloomfield 

Zone conference, exchanges, and blackberries {week 55}

Hello everyone!

It's been another great week as a missionary! Pday was moved because of zone conference yesterday! Zone conference was incredible, as always. I'm so grateful for the opportunities we have to learn. 

Remember the lady who took us on the crazy impromptu hike the other day? We met with her again this week! I have so much love for her which made this visit a bit hard. We were able to teach her about the plan of salvation and she had a lot of questions for us surrounding our decision to follow this faith. After listening to us express our testimony and invite her to improve her own life, she told us that she knew that what we were sharing was good and true but that she also knew that this was a time in her life when she couldn't accept our message. Tears filled her eyes as we hugged and parted ways. It was so sad. She knows that our message is true and would bless her life but wasn't ready at this time. I pray she runs into missionaries again some day in the Ukraine. 

Her questions have stuck with me. One thing that was so curious to her was how we knew so firmly that our message was true, and why we would choose to live in this way. I know there are so many religions out there, and so many people proclaiming to know truth. Some insist that God lives while others deny His existence. In a world of so many conflicting opinions and voices how can it be that I can claim to know the truth? How is it that I'm so confident in the life I have chosen to life? I am not the type of person that can do things half way. I couldn't commit my life to something that I hope is true. The only thing that gives me the strength to keep moving, is knowing with all my heart that there is a God and that He wants to speak to us. It's something I know is true. Even though I wish I could take my own testimony and help everyone to feel as I do, it doesn't work like that. In order for you to know that God knows your name, it's something you have to experience for yourself. If you lack wisdom, why not go to the source of all wisdom, the creator of the universe, your Heavenly Father? "If any of  you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed" James 1:5-6. If it doesn't make sense to you that I can say that I know there is a God, then you can ask Him for yourself. You can come to feel for yourself. You just have to ask. 

This Sunday we had a few people come to church! One of them is one of our friends who have been coming for a couple of weeks now. She is trying to figure out if God loves her, and it's amazing to watch her as she begins to recognize the spirit. It is through the feelings in our heart and the thoughts that come to our mind that we can know God is speaking to us through the Holy Ghost. We also had a family come to church too! One thing that really touched me was the amount of people who approached them and made them feel welcome. 

After church on Sunday we drove down and went on a little exchange with the sisters in Courtenay. It was so much fun! Courtenay is such a cute little area and it was so much fun to spend some time with the sisters! I love being a missionary! Its starting to be blackberry season and they're growing every where! I love blackberries so that's a huge plus for us! I'm so lucky to be serving here on the island!

I hope everyone has an amazing week! 

Sister Bloomfield 

Joy! {week 54}

Hello!

This has been such a great week! I've gotten to this point on my mission where everything just feels so normal that it feels weird to think that people don't do this everyday! Haha sometimes I even worry that I'm not working hard enough because doing all this stuff doesn't feel abnormal anymore it just feels like regular life to be running from place to place and talking to people from 10am to 9pm everyday. The stress of just everyday mission life isn't stressful anymore because it's just everyday life on the mission. I just love it so much and it's weird to think I ever did anything else. 

I am so excited about the work! I've never been so motivated in my life to just go out and work as hard as I possibly can! This week we met some amazing people and had some amazing lessons! Lately we've found a lot of people who like hiking haha. On Monday we went hiking with this super awesome girl and ended up talking about the restoration with her! Then on Thursday we were able to meet up and talk with her about the Book of Mormon. It was cool to show her something that is so special to me.

On Saturday we met up with someone from Ukraine and ended up going on an impromptu hike that was really uphill and really in the sun in the middle of the afternoon in our skirts. Haha it was so funny! It was fun though and we were able to teach a semi decent lesson. It was a little distracting because it was a really steep hike haha. Sometimes we do things as missionaries that seem normal to us (like climb a mountain in a dress and flats) but when you look at them out of context it's actually pretty funny. 

One thing I've learned the most, is that the Savior is with us in every moment. He's there to share in our joys and is there to walk with us in our sorrows. Even though life is an opportunity and a blessing it's no secret we were sent here to learn and grow. And that's not always comfortable. But I think that all of us will find that as we pass through sorrow it's as we look back that we see the joy. Because it truly is all around us. We just have to look for it! President Wong was telling us at MLC that he wants to make a wooden board with the word "sorrow" written on it and the word "joy" written on the back. Then he will have people walk up to the board and pass it only to look back and see the joy. 

Have an incredible week!

Sister Bloomfield 

Another Week in Nanaimo {week 53}

Hello Everyone!

This week I've been reflecting on how much I absolutely love missionary work and being on my mission. I love it so much and am so grateful I was called to this mission! There is no where else I'd rather be! It seriously makes me SO HAPPY! I've been on my mission for a little over a year now and it's so hard to believe. Time is going by way too fast! 

This was such a good week! We saw so many miracles! At one point this week we were walking past this lady in her yard. We called out to her and managed to scare her to death haha. We offered her help in her yard but she wasn't accepting because we were dressed up too nicely. So we told her we would change and come back. We sprinted to our car, drove home, and threw on some service clothes as quickly as we could. Then we rushed back to her house and hopped out of the car ready to help. She could hardly believe her eyes. We spent some time with her in her lawn talking about God. We asked her if she believed God could answer her prayers and she said that she had kind of half hardheartedly prayed for help then we showed up! She is such a cool person and has been to 71 countries! She's also been searching for God throughout her life. We'll be going back to see her again next week! On my mission I've really gained a testimony that there are people everywhere who need the benefits of the gospel but simply don't know that it exists.

We are also teaching a girl who is 13 years old. She has been through some really hard experiences in her life and we've had a hard time getting her to open up. After praying about it we decided to take one specific person from church. We went to the appointment and the girl connected so well with the member. The spirit was so strong and she opened up so much. It was one of those moments where I felt unmistakably that the spirit was the teacher. He knows our hearts and knows what we need so much better than we do. I know that God truly ministers one by one. 

A while ago we found a man from China. He's the one we ended up teaching at a member's house spur of the moment. We also got to see him this week and had an amazing lesson. He had read what we had given him in the Book of Mormon and was so interested to learn more. It was a really cool experience to see him so intently reading his Chinese Book of Mormon and comparing it to his English copy so he could figure out how to express what he was thinking. I know that the truth can and will be found for those that seek it. 

We also had MLC this week. It was incredible! As always it's so much fun to ride the ferry over and spend some time with President Wong and the other missionaries. But the best part of all is receiving training and counseling together on how we can improve as missionaries. One thing that is unmistakable to me is that God really does live and is truly directing this work. He is involved because He loves all of us and wants us to be happy. President Wong kept quoting the scripture to us "Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to His will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in Him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to Him." (1 Nephi 7:12) Sometimes it can be so easy to become content with where we are spiritually. Physically speaking we are so far away from God. If we don't work at it He can feel as far away as He seems. And most of the time as humans we proceed through life as if we were ok with that. But the fact of the matter is, He is not far away and wants to be near us. And we can actually feel that! We can pray and He will actually answer our prayers! More so than we think or realize. In the priesthood session of general conference Russel M. Nelson said "Too many of our brothers and sisters do not fully understand the concept of priesthood power and authority. They act as though they would rather satisfy their own selfish desires and appetites than use the power of God to bless His children." When I read that the other day it really hit me. Sometimes it can be so easy to forget that God really is there, He wants to be involved in our lives, but He also wants to show us how we can use our life for more. We can use our life to not only experience our own contentment and joy, but to bless others. I've learned that there is no moment in life when we have "Arrived" we can always be better, do more, and learn more. That is revealed to us as we pray. 

I am so grateful to know that God is in fact there. I hope you all have an amazing week!

Sister Bloomfield 

Oh Canada {week 52} - ONE YEAR in the mission!

Hello Everyone and happy Canada day!!

I'm sorry but I don't have much time!! Also I'm emailing from my phone which slows down the process. Anyways this has been a great week! 

I'm SO EXCITED for this transfer!! It's going to be Awesome! I love sister Bawden so much and I'm excited for all that We're going to do in this upcoming transfer! 

Last night we were driving somewhere but felt prompted to stop on the street we were on and get out of our car and knock some doors. We did and found 2 new people to teach! One thing I've learned that is really important is having faith in God. If I know the church is true then I know God can perform miracles. There's just no other way to put It! I promise you that God can and will perform miracles in your life. You don't have to wonder what is true or if He is there. Just ask Him. As we develop the faith to listen He will answer.

I'm sorry there is so much more to say but I don't have time!! I love you all!! Don't give up, heaven is cheering you on!

Sister Bloomfield