Transfers calls this week....crazy! Sept. 20th, 2010

Hey everyone!

So this last week was an interesting week...I was a bit under the weather and so we didn't get as much accomplished as we were hoping to, but it was still a good week. Lilian (our committed) ended up getting bronchitis and was quarantined for the whole week...we finally got to see her for the first time yesterday. It was kind of crazy, but good. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved it and then we changed her baptism date. She's still excited and willing to work for it, so that was great. Then we also taught another committed, Gary, the Plan of Salvation and he LOVED it. It'd been about 2 weeks since we last saw him so we were a bit nervous about teaching him again and if he'd still be interested or not, but when we walked in he was just SO excited to see us and his cousin said "i don't know what you guys did to him, but he hasn't stopped talking about you since you left." He gladly accepted the Plan of Salvation and it was SUCH a great lesson. I just love him! He wasn't at church yesterday, but we're going to go visit him this evening and teach him again. Then we also taught Doris, the member referral who we taught the amazing first lesson to last week. We had a lesson scheduled for Wednesday, but then she ended up asking if we could go to her house since her daughter had been in the hospital and she couldn't leave her at home alone. Turns out she lives in Mascouche which is way far away, so we got the elders there to go teach her. They taught her and her daughter and committed her for the 16th as well. She was at church yesterday and we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and again she LOVED the lesson. She's SO excited about her baptism and about the Relief Society broadcast this Saturday...it's going to be so amazing. We're just not sure if we're going to pass her off to Mascouche or not...we have to talk with our bishop and if he says she can be baptized in our ward, we'll keep her; if he says she has to go to her ward (up in Mascouche) we'll give her up. We'll see what happens.

So that part was all wonderful. We also taught another family and a couple of weeks ago they had had problems with the idea of Jesus Christ coming to the Americas. We gave them some suggestions and then gave them the movie "Testaments" to watch as a family. We then watched parts of it together for the lesson on Saturday and it was SO incredible. Pierre Richard (the dad) said that he had become VERY emotional when Christ appeared in the movie, and we told him that that was the Spirit bearing witness that it was true. Then we watched that very end part where Christ is there and heals the dad and then you see His face and He turns away and the mom jumped up and said "That was it! That was it! I saw that!" and then went to tell us about an experience she had had years before where she had been praying in a church and had looked up and seen a man in a white robe right in front of her who had then turned and it was EXACTLY what she had seen in the movie. It was amazing. They then talked a bit together and said "it makes sense...other sheep I have which are not of this fold...of course He came to the Americas." It was really neat. We're hoping they come to Conference, feel the Spirit and gain a testimony of the prophet and then want to be baptized. We'll see what happens :)

Also this week we had a service project on Saturday where everyone from both the English and French stakes on the island of Montreal (including 40 of the 70 missionaries who are now here) went an dhelped clean up Parc Angrignon. It was so fun. We were in groups of 4 and tried to find the craziest things we could. We foudn a HUGE bag of grated carrots (random) and a purse complete with all the accessories: a toothbrush, perfume, toothpaste, a razor, clean socks and underwear...so strange. Someone else found a huge fake tree and Elder Magre wins: he found a man sleeping in a bad. He went to take the bag and then realized there was man sleeping in it...kind of crazy :) It was so fun though.

In other news...transfer calls are this Saturday. it's so crazy to think that this is already week 6 of the transfer...it has FLOWN by! We're getting one new sister and we're anticipating that most of the companionships are staying the same...Sister Davis and I are almost positive that we're staying here together, but we'll see. So it's been a good week. OH! And we had a less active at church this week...we taught her a great lesson on the love of God for her and then she came to church and it was so great...it's been over 5 years since the last time she was there and we were SO excited for her. It was a wonderful week. I hope you all are doing well...I love you tons! Take care!

Love, Sister Nicole Lindsey

PS: I read a talk that I loved this week and it had a poem in it that I really appreciated...I thought I'd share it with you. It says:
"In golden youth when seems the earth
A summer-land of singing mirth,
When souls are glad and hearts are light,
And not a shadow lurks in sight,
We do not know it, but there lies
Somewhere veiled 'neath evening skies
A garden which we all must see --
The Garden of Gethsemane.

"Down shadowy lanes, across strange streams
Bridged over by our broken dreams;
Behind the misty caps of years,
Beyond the great salt fount of tears,
The Garden lies. Strive, as you may,
You cannot miss it on your way;
All paths that have been, or shall be
Pass somewhere through Gethsemane."

I love that. We all do have struggles and trials in this life, but the Savior has experienced it all before. He's gone through it all so that we might be comforted and know that there is someone else there who knows EXACTLY what we're going through and exactly what we need to find that comfort and that peace even during the difficult times. I'm so grateful to my Savior for His atoning sacrifice, and I love the chance I have each day to share that with others.