A Lesson on Repentance from Wendys {week 73}

This has been a good week! Lots of exciting things happened! I absolutely love being a missionary!!

As the subject line says, this week I learned a lesson on repentance. I don't know if this is happening in the States but here in Canada for the month of November Wendy's was having this promotion where if you bought a sheet of coupons for $2 you would get $10 worth of coupons. At the beginning of this transfer we walked into Wendy's and this really nice lady I have never met before was so happy to see us. She gave us a stack of 11 coupon booklets and told us to give it to other missionaries. We were grateful and gave a sheet of coupons to one companionship. We then promptly forgot about them. Then this week we went into Wendy's. She asked us what we had done with the coupons and we felt really bad. They expired at the end of November and she didn't seem too happy. We felt so bad. So we left and carried on with our day. Then the next day we got a text from the elders asking us about the coupons. Apparently they went to Wendy's and the lady asked if they had them and they said no. The elders informed us that the lady was pretty mad. We felt so bad so we went and pulled out some money to pay her for the coupons. We walked into Wendy's pretty embarrassed and apologized to the lady and tried to pay her back. We thought she was going to yell at us. Instead she refused to accept our money, but did accept our apology. She said she was so happy we came back and that it showed a lot about our character. We didn't know what to say. She walked around the counter and gave us both hugs and then gave us 2 free frosty's. I was so surprised! I didn't even know what to say!

It reminded me of a scripture in Mosiah. It's in Mosiah 2:23-24 and says "And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which you are indebted unto Him. And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto Him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?" When that lady gave us those coupons, we were indebted to her. And when we messed up and came back to apologize to her she rewarded us for the simple act of apologizing. Therefor we were more indebted to her. That's a lot like Christ. He has given us everything and sacrificed Himself for us. Because of that we are always indebted to Him. But anytime we do anything good or come to Him, He rewards us despite our previous debt. So we are always indebted to Him. It is impossible to pay Him back. Because Christ is loving, He doesn't expect us to pay Him back and doesn't hold our debt over our head. If we come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He immediately accepts us and to Him it's as if we never sinned at all. His hand is always outstretched and He is quick to forgive.

At General Conference President Nelson challenged us to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year focusing on Jesus Christ. As I've done so one main message has stuck out to me: Christ is merciful. Even though we mess up hundreds of times if we just come back and express a desire to change He accepts us and helps us to become better. Jeffry R Holland once said "come as you are, but don't expect to stay as you are." In His mercy, Christ accepts us and helps us to change and overcome our sins. 

I'm so grateful for the gospel and my knowledge of a loving God!

This has been such a good week! We have seen some amazing miracles and met some amazing people! One of the happiest moments of this week was this last Saturday. We were standing in a huge crowd of people when we received a text from one of our people telling us who they wanted to have baptize them. It was a moment of pure joy for 2 sister missionaries, standing among a crowd of people who were clueless. It was pure joy because it was a sign that this person was truly taking another step closer to God. I'm so grateful! This type of joy transcends everything. Any sorry or difficulty we face is swallowed up in the joy of Christ.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Sister Bloomfield  

Good, Better, Best {week 72}

Dear Family and Friends,

I hope you have all had an amazing week and that you have an amazing Thanksgiving!! There truly is so much to be thankful for! 

This has been a good week! We're seeing lots of miracles! I absolutely love serving in this branch! Being in YSA is so good! 

This week we were able to find a lot of new people to teach! It was so fun going out and talking to as many people as we could!

We are still working with that guy who is getting baptized soon. We had a really cool lesson with him on Saturday. We taught the law of tithing and he thought it was great! We asked him about church and he said he wasn't planning on coming. That's not good because in order to get baptized you need to come to church. We took some time to talk about the importance of coming to church but by the end of the lesson we were unsure if he was going to come or not. Sure enough, Sunday morning he was there ready for church! This time with a shirt and tie! It made me so happy! It's been so cool to see his conversion is such a short period of time! He is an elect!

This week we also had  zone conference! It was so good! One of the things I pulled out of it is the importance of constantly preparing so that we are spiritually capable of responding when God asks us to do things. His will should always trump our own. The things that matter most in this life are the things that center us on Jesus Christ. I learned that there is a lot of things that are "good" and "better" in the world. It's tempting to be distracted by them. But what we really need to focus on are the things that are "best." It makes me think of the story in the Bible of Martha and Mary. Martha was busy doing house work while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. Martha got annoyed that Mary wasn't helping but Christ responded with "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things; but one thing is needful; and mary hath chosen that good part,which shall not be taken away from her." There are a lot of good things we can be doing, but we need to always remember what is best. 

Have an amazing week! 

Sister Bloomfield 

Another Good Week {week 71}

Hello everyone!

This has been a good week!

It's amazing and I love being a missionary so much!

Some highlights of the week:

-Working with John! John is the guy sister Robison and I found a while ago. He's just soaking everything in and loves the church! He came to church for the first time this last Sunday and said that it felt like coming home! We taught him the word of wisdom and he loved it! He bore his testimony that it's probably a good idea to keep the commandments because God knows more than we do! That makes me so happy!

-Working with Emily! Emily is a girl we found recenlty! She's from Korea. We had such a cool lesson with her the other day. We taught the restoration and she was pretty amazed by it. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! It was such a spiritual lesson!

Honestly there's so many things that make being a missionary amazing! I love it so much!

One thing that's stuck out to me this week is something someone said in sacrament meeting the other day. He said "when repenting don't think of the wrongs you have done, think of the right you want to be through Christ."

Have a great week!

Sister Bloomfield 

 

Do Good Anyway {week 70}

Hello Family and Friends,

This has been such a good week! It's been stressful, but it's the best kind of stress! It's just the type of stress where you have a lot of things to do, but know it will all be ok because God is with you in every moment.

I absolutely love Sister Guzman! She is from Hondorus and is so much fun! She is teaching me Spanish and I can now say "I'm trying to learn Spanish" in Spanish! It's the best! I'm so excited for this transfer with her!

This week we have seen so many miracles! I've been learning the true meaning of turning everything to God. There have been so many times this week that I spent on my knees pleading with God to bless this area and this zone. As to my strength, I am weak. So so weak. But because of God I can do all things.

This Sunday at the beginning of church I sat in the pews a little sad because no one had come (as in people we're teaching). During the sacrament I just prayed so hard and decided I needed to turn everything to God. This is the Lord's work not mine. Then, after sacrament one of the people we're teaching just waltzed in with a bunch of the branch members who had all carpooled together. I was so happy and surprised! Then I turned around and saw that another member had brought her friend! Then we got a text from someone else we were trying to get to church that said they were sitting in the foyer! It was a miracle!!!! I have a testimony that if we rely on God, all things are possible.

This week we saw so many miracles! We worked so hard and met some of the most amazing people. I'm so excited to watch their progression. It's the most amazing thing in the world to just lose yourself in the service of God.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about why I serve. I've realized that the reason I serve, is because I love God. My efforts may amount to nothing, but they still mean everything because I'm serving out of love for Jesus Christ. My motto this week has been this quote from General Conference "If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow. Do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give the world the best you've got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God anyway." (found in "for Him" by Joy D Jones)

Sister Bloomfield 

 

Hola Amigos! {week 69}

Hello Everyone!

Transfer calls came and I'm staying in Langley YSA!!!! That makes me so happy!!!!! I love this area so much!!! I'm getting a new companion and her name is Sister Guzman. She's from Hondorus!! I'm so excited because I'm going to finally have someone to try and learn Spanish from!!

This has been such a good week! I love serving in this branch so much!! I am so spoiled because since we cover so many areas of the mission I get to see so many different places and meet so many different people. It's absolutely incredible!

We are teaching this awesome guy! I don't know if I've written about him, but he's the one we found on the day we were without our car. He is just soaking everything in! We invited him to be baptized but he originally declined. Then after one of our lessons he texted us and said "about that baptism thing, I think I want to do it!" It made us so happy! We invited him to an activty on Monday and he told us he would rather have another lesson! It was so cool! Watching him learn about the gospel really made me realize how much happiness it brings. Knowing about Jesus Christ can truly change your life.

So much happened this week and I learned so much! I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve in this area, in this mission, with all the companions I've had so far. I know that it is God who has given me everything. Even when I strive to serve Him with all my strength, it is him that gives me the strength to serve Him. In Mosiah 2:11 King Benjamin says "I have been chosen by this people... to serve you with all the might, mind, and strength, which the Lord hath granted unto me"

Have a great week!

Sister Bloomfield 

Loaves and Fishes {week 68}

Hello Everyone!

This has been one of those weeks that I will always remember. There is nothing better that serving others and inviting them to come closer to Jesus Christ!

This week I had a really cool experience with the name of the church. I sat down to talk to this lady at a bus stop and she immediately said "Oh you're so beautiful, you must be a Mormon girl." I was surprised but said, "Oh well I go to the church of Jesus Christ." We got to talking and I was able to share some of the Book of Mormon with her. She had been searching for the true church for so long but had had such negative experiences with other churches that she had given up her search. I felt the spirit so strongly and bore my testimony of Jesus Christ and that this church is His church and that He wanted her to come home to Him. It was such a powerful experience that I don't think I would have had had I not been trying to emphasize the true name of the church. My testimony that Christ is at the head of this church has grown so much these past few weeks. This isn't Mormon's church, this is Jesus Christ's church! I know He is reaching out to as many people as will listen. We don't have to search for Jesus Christ's church anymore. It's right here. Alma 5:38 "Behold, I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye are not the sheep of the good shepherd."

Yesterday Sister Robison and I both felt prompted to pray that someone would bring their friend to church. And what do you know, when we got to church someone had brought their friend! There has been random but special moments on my mission where I have felt prompted to pray for a miracle and it always happens. God really does answer prayers!

On Monday the Willoughby elders had to borrow our car so we were stranded in the middle of Langley. For our area, that's not so effective because all the YSA people we'd need to see or talk to wouldn't really be walking around neighborhood streets. We decided to just work as hard as we could with the resources we had and ended up finding some of the coolest people I've found before! We met with one of them, whom I'll call Amelia, on Saturday and invited her to be baptized. She said yes! She has been searching for the true church for so long, it made me so happy to share this gospel with her! The other person we found, whom I'll call Conor, came to a branch activity and is reading from the Book of Mormon!

I've really learned that when we try our hardest, God magnifies our efforts. Sometimes all we have to offer is 5 loaves and a few fishes, but Christ can take that and feed the 5,000.

Have a good week!

Sister Bloomfield

Alone, I am Nothing {week 67}

Hello Everyone!

It's been a beautiful fall week here in British Colombia! The leaves have changed into beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange and lay scattered all over the ground! I love this time of year and I love BC! I love this area too because I get to see so many corners of the mission and find so much hidden beauty everyday! Being a missionary is just the best! 

This has been such a good week! This week I had another Skype lesson with the Sisters in Burnaby to teach a different deaf person they were teaching. To be honest, I was panicking all morning. I'm not fluent in ASL and it's been over a year since I've taken a class. I prayed so hard all morning that God would bless me with the ability to effectively communicate with this person so I could teach by the spirit. During the lesson I continued to pray. It wasn't easy and took a lot of concentration. Luckily the man was very patient with me as well. I was able to teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it! I asked him if he wanted to get baptized and he got really excited and even asked if he could be baptized a week earlier than I suggested!!! It was such a miracle and the spirit was so strong! I know it was all God. I honestly couldn't even tell you how it all worked. It was a pure miracle. The gift of tongues is real. Or I guess I should say the gift of hands haha.

The theme of this week has been that I can't do this alone. Alone, I am nothing. But when I take what I have to Christ, He uses my efforts to accomplish his work. As we were driving to the ASL lesson a song came on the radio that I've heard a million times but took on a whole new meaning. The lyrics say "when you're lost, when your strength is weak, when you're worn out and find yourself on your knees. He will come, he will take your load, and with the 90 and 9 He will bring you home." That hit me so hard! It truly is only through Christ that I can do any of this. There is so much we have to do in life, but through God it can all be accomplished. 

We are working with the cutest girl that I will call Michelle. When we first met her she was so shy but as she's learned about the gospel she has changed and opened up so much. Recently she shared that any time in her life that she struggled missionaries would somehow always appear. It really showed me that God is aware of us, and won't stop reaching out to us. 

I love Jesus Christ and this gospel so much! 

2 Nephi 4:20-21 "20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh"

Have a great week! 

Sister Bloomfield