Therefore, cheer up your hearts

Greetings from the magical land of exchanges, bikes, rain, miracles, and perogies!

It was a solid week for sure. 

We had TWO exchanges which was crazy but AWESOME!  

I went on an exchange with Sister Platter and she is SUCH a gem.  Seriously a rock star missionary.  We got TWO REFERRALS on the exchange which was a mega miracle because getting referrals is sometimes more rare than +20 degrees in an Albertan winter.  It was funny because we attempted to talk to tons of people and like NONE of them spoke english.  #welcometoedmonton the biggest melting pot of all time. hahhah it's great.  

I also got to go back to the HOLY LAND OF DRAYTON VALLEY!!!  Yes it was wonderful and magical to be there and heartbreaking to leave again, but those people there have my heart and I think it's fair to say it's my second home.  I got to exchange with Sister Alvord and she is just really wonderful. :)  

Sooooo we totally taught Isi the restoration and it was SO POWERFUL!  She has already been baptized in the catholic faith, but she accepted everything we taught! She didn't accept the invitation to be baptized yet, the spirit was there and it just felt good. she'll get there :) We will be teaching her again this week, pray for her please! 

Yesterday was just a blessed day.  Here's why:

soooooo earlier in the day everything kept falling through so we did a ton of searching but not much finding.  People weren't all that receptive, but we just kept working and working until an appointment we had at 5 which also fell through.  We prayed and decided we needed to knock 7 more doors and the first 5 were anything but friendly..but the last two BOTH accepted to learn more!!!  WHHHAT???? yeah.  it was a miracle.  

After we had supper, we decided to bike the rest of the night because we're running out of klicks for the month.  Remember that filipino family i told y'all about like...a month ago?  They were members back in the Philippines but came here 5 years ago and haven't been active since.  Well we found them on exchanges by some crazy miracle of Sister Howard texting us the wrong address for a potential (it ended up being their address).  The Tagalog elders haven't been able to get in lately, and we were nearby so we decided to try.  We talked with Celeste (the mom) at the door for a while, and finally she let us in.  We shared Because He Lives and the spirit was just soo.....REAL!  I can't explain it.  It was just so real.  And she cried and told us that she had been praying to be able to go back to church, because she knew that she needed to bring her family back.  And that's when we knocked on her door.  God's hand is in the details of our lives, i just know it!  There is no denying the manifestations we have seen of Him and his plan of happiness.  I love it.  As we were leaving, she started crying again and just said, "these are tears of joy, i am just so happy."  She said they would come to church this Sunday!!!  

you probably won't believe it but the miracles don't stop here. 

We rode to a few less actives to try to see them and didn't have much success, and we had about 30 minutes left.  I wasn't quite sure what on earth we would do since we had tracted SO much already that day, so we decided to just ride a little bit down the road and see who we could find.  I was ahead of Sister Howard and I thought we would just stop and knock a certain cul-de-sac.  We stopped and locked up our bikes, and the FIRST house we knocked on, this super awesome lady came out and said she would love to learn!!!  :)  We were just shocked and so happy and excited and life is just amazing.  Then we turn and leave her house and the sunset was just UNREAL.  So we stopped to take a picture.  We then heard someone behind us in their open garage, so we went to talk to him.  His name is Abel and we just walked up and told him that god loves him.  He seemed really moved and then started asking us how we know that.  He was SOOOOO seeking for truth, he went inside and brought his friend, Carla, out so that he could understand us better.  (he speaks mainly Tagalog).  We just bore our testimonies to both of them and they now want to learn!  They don't live in Edmonton, they were only here for a few days, then they're heading back home tomorrow, so we'll be going with the Tagalog elders today to start teaching them before they leave!!! 

then we started walking away and unlocking our bikes and THE RAINS CAME DOWN AND THE FLOODS CAME UP.  ha maybe not the floods but it was POURING so we rode home as fast as we could and were totally soaked when we got in the door.  :)  it was all just so wonderful and there is no doubt in my soul that God's hand is in EVERYTHING. 

I was reading in the Book of Mormon last night in 2 Nephi 10 and verse 23 just hit me. 

" 22 For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.  23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.
 24 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved.
 25 Wherefore, may God raise you from death by the power of the resurrection, and also from everlasting death by the power of the atonement, that ye may be received into the eternal kingdom of God, that ye may praise him through grace divine. Amen."

When we choose to cheer up our hearts, and CHOOSE HAPPINESS, things just work out.  I know Jesus Christ lives, and I know that this is his living church on the earth today.  
I love it.  

Onward, ever onward. 

Sister Jones

Biking through the wilderness...actually just a fake forest in the middle of a neighbourhood :)