Kaylee Lofthouse: December 2014

Monday, December 29, 2014

December 29, 2014: "White" Christmas

It has been an awesome week here in Surrey! I hope you all had a great Christmas. I know that I will never forget Christmas this year!

Christmas was a great day. We saw a lot of love from the members. A lady in the ward even found us a tree! But it was a pretty interesting tree. Me and Sister McKee called it our Christmas Stick. :) We had brunch at the bishops house. Then I got to Skype home! Shout out to my family! Love you guys! :) We had a lesson with our investigator, Janet. She is going strong with quitting smoking and came to church yesterday! Then we went to go help the less-active that invited us over for Christmas dinner set up things. She has bad health problems and can't really walk... But she is the only member in her family so it was awesome because at dinner we got a have a little lesson. Then we were out on the streets talking to people for the rest of the night. We saw lots of miracles and set up some return appointments. But most people that were out didn't speak much English or were really drunk... So it was pretty interesting! :)

But the best part of the week was Noheel was baptized on Saturday and Curtis was baptized yesterday! It has been pretty interesting because these were both mine and Sister McKee's first baptisms... So we didn't really know what we were doing... But the spirit helped us! Haha. Noheel is awesome. He loves the Gospel and has such a desire to follow God. Sister McKee was able to find a violin and play it for the service with a concert violinist in the ward. So that was awesome!

Yesterday Curtis was baptized! It was hard to set a date with him because the man he wanted to baptize him is super busy... But things worked out for him to be baptized on Sunday! But Curtis is awesome! He went through an addiction recovery program in the area that is ran by a member of the church. So Curtis has been a graduate of the program for a few years now and is now working as a program director now. A lot of people he works with are members so he already knew a lot when we taught him. He has been through a lot but its awesome to see the change in him and his love for God. His tattoos do say "God's will" so that's cool. :) His baptismal service was so good though. The spirit was so strong. It was also funny because Curtis is pretty hipster and always has his hair done and wears fancy clothes... But while he was down in the font, I heard some of the students in the program make fun of him because he was going to mess up his hair. Haha. But this experience with these two has been amazing! I feel so blessed to have been able to teach these two men who have been prepared by God to hear and accept the Gospel. Keep Noheel and Curtis in your prayers. New converts need all the help they can get! :)

Thank you all for your love and support! And thanks to those who send me little notes and cards. I have the best support group ever! Hope you all have a great week!!! :)

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Our Christmas Tree and cat bags :)
Sister McKee and Sister Lofthouse
Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Curtis Connolly's Baptism
December 28, 2014
?, Curtis Connolly, Sister Kaylee Lofthouse, Sister Holly McKee

Noheel Pillai's Baptism
Sister Kaylee Lofthouse, Sister Holly McKee, Noheel Pillai, ?, President Burt, Sister Burt
December 27, 2014

December 22, 2014: Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!! Hope you are all doing well! The Christmas spirit (Aka the spirit of Christ) has been going around here in Surrey and its been awesome!

This week Noheel had his baptismal interviews and he is all clear to baptized on the 27th! Noheel is awesome! And so cute how he wants to serve God and keep his commandments so faithfully. After we taught the Law of Chastity he asked if it was okay to hug his mom.... Haha we were like "Yes, please hug your mom!" and clarified things more. It was pretty funny. :) But we went over his service and he wanted us to do a musical number... Well me and sister McKee dont have the best voices around... So we were looking around the ward for a violin for Sister McKee to play. Turns out one of our member's son is a concert violinist and had an old-cheap one that Sister McKee can borrow! Blessings! Too bad we don't have a concert cellist in the ward...

We have another investigator named Janet. She is only like 22 but has 3 kids!! Which are all not fully in her custody... But she has a desire to be baptized! We threw out her coffee and tea and had a hot chocolate party with her. And she has quite smoking! But there was a baptism in the other ward we really wanted to to come too. But things came up and she would have been really late taking the bus and we tried so hard to find member who could drive her over... But we couldn't find anyone willing.. But she took a taxi even though she doesn't have a lot of money! So that was awesome! Unfortunately so wasn't feeling good so she didn't make it to church... So we will have to move her baptismal date back a bit. But she is awesome!

Yesterday was an awesome day! It was one of those days where we didn't have anything planned... But one of our investigators, Curtis, works with a recent convert who has become less active since I have been here in Surrey. The recent convert has been having a rough time and asked us to stop coming over like a month ago. Which is sad because her kids are getting ready for baptism. they are just waiting for their dad's heart to be soften to let them be baptized. But our investigator, Curtis, got a ride from her to church! And she let us come over after so we had an unplanned lesson with her and her kids! The yeaterday, We were dropping off Christmas cards for the families in the ward and we were dropped one off to Sister Tanner, who lives with her inactive son and his nonmember wife. Her son and daughter-in-law haven't been open in the past but they let us in and we shared a message. They were even engaged in the lesson. It was awesome! We talked about Christmas and about Christ. The spirit of Christ is awesome! We could really see the spirit working in them., And they fed us dinner! So it showed that they liked us! So it was another awesome unplanned lesson. Blessings!

Its been awesome here in Surrey! We are so happy for Noheel! Its been a while since someone has been baptized in the ward. What an amazing gift to give the Savior this Christmas. I hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much for the love and support!! Merry Christmas!!!!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

We love cats. 'nough said.

A recent convert in the ward, Teri, saw these Lofthouse cookies and had to buy them... Unfortunately they were not regular Lofthouse cookies and were not very good. Stick with the classic.

December 15, 2014: Zone Conference in Richmond & "He is the Gift"

Its been an awesome week. First off we have a baptism scheduled for the 27th! It was a miracle! Its with Noheel, who was a former from like 3 years ago who just showed up for church in November. But we figured out he would have to wait a year to be baptized. Then on Thursday we were planning with our sister training leaders and it turned out someone gave us wrong information before. He just needs to be interviewed by the President! So we were so excited and called Noheel up to see if he could meet that day but we figured out too that he would have had to be living the word of wisdom the day before that to be baptized this month. And since he is Indian we thought he would have already drank tea that day. But we met with him and he hadn't for like a month! What?? It was awesome! He has such a desire to learn and to follow God! So we are very excited for him. :)

This week we also got to go to the mission office in Richmond for a zone conference. Its fun leaving the area. :) We finally got to watch he is the gift! It is awesome. Christmas time is such an amazing time to be a missionary! We love to ask if we can share Christmas messages with people and they usually allow us to come back. :) Also in Richmond, we got a "Christmas" dinner provided for us, which here in Canada means just another Thanksgiving dinner. But it was so good!

It was a great week! Thanks for all the love and support! Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

December 9, 2014: Bus Stops and Temple Day

Hope you have all been having a great week! This week has been AMAZING! Full of miracles. :)

We usually go to this bus exchange to street contact. And one day this week while we were there I went up and started talking to this lady. At first it was just like talking to anyone else, but then she told me she felt like God wouldn't except her because she can't quit smoking but then she opened The Book of Mormon and found an awesome verse that comforted her. So I was like "What?? You have a Book of Mormon?" Turns out her boyfriend is a member (extremely less active) but they have been talking about how if she should become a member or not. And she had been praying that morning of what to do, and that she would receive help and then I walked up to her at the bus stop! She was just so happy and was crying and was hugging me! We met up with her again and she has a lot of work ahead of her but she has such a great desire! So that was an awesome experience.

Then one night we were at that same bus exchange and this one Indian YSA aged guy came up to us and was showing us a picture on his phone of a mormon.org card. An we were like, "Cool, do you have faith in Jesus Christ?" and he told us that after looking at the website he does! So we were like awesome!! And we talked about how the next steps were repentance and baptism and we set a baptismal date with him right there on the street! It was awesome! So we wrote his date on the back of the pamphlet we gave him and he was so cute and was like "Okay, so where do I need to go on this day?" Haha. But we passed his number to the YSA elders and are excited for him!

Then on Sunday we were knocking at this complex and to make a long story short... Everyone was really mean. We knocked into an unfriendly devote Christian and a Jehovah Witness. It was about dinner time and we were about to turn back to go home when we decided to knock a couple more doors... So we decided go skip some doors and go on the other side of the complex. While we were over there this lady shouts out "HEY!" and we thought she was going to yell at us for being in there but she was like "Do you have a bible?" Turns out she is the daughter to the Jehovah's Witness we knocked at earlier but she is Christian and can't let her mom know or she will kick her out. So she had been praying for help and then saw us talk to her mom and then came to find us. It was awesome! It was a miracle! We are excited to meet with this week!

As for a funny thing that happened to us this week... I was talking with a lady at the bus stop and was talking about Jesus Christ when a black guy stepped off the bus and heard me and was like "Jesus is Lord!" And I was like yeah... and kept talking. Then a few minutes later he came up to me and Sister McKee and was like "I have a message from God to give you. The Spirit of Prophecy which is in me says- I the Lord, love you more than everything... (lists the universe and tells me its not a lustful love)" And we were just like thank you... Haha so wild! I love Surrey! Haha :)

We also got to go to the temple today! That's why i'm emailing today if you were wondering. :) But I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Sister McKee and Sister Lofthouse at the Vancouver Canada Temple

Vancouver Canada Temple

December 1, 2014: Transfer Calls & Ginger

Hope you are all doing well and have had a good week!

This week were transfer calls! Me and Sister McKee are staying here in Surrey, and Sister McKee was made district leader. (There are districts of just sisters and just elders in this mission) So that will be a fun adventure this transfer! :)

This week we got to teach our investigator who basically went up to our bishop telling him he wanted to be baptized. He is awesome! Pricepro is a grocery store and an addiction recover program that is ran and owned by a member. Curtis, our investigator, is a graduate of the program and is very good friends with the owner. So he is very familiar with the church. We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he asked about coffee and stuff and we explained to him and then he said he stopped drinking coffee last week! So he is great. But he is traveling to the states with his boss (the owner of the program) for the next couple of weeks but we are excited to keep meeting with him when he gets back!

Saturday was our ward Christmas dinner/party! Our investigator, Brittani, came. She seemed to have a good time and felt comfortable with everyone. Some of the members got her number and are going to invite her over for dinner this week. Awesome! Brittani has had a rough life so its always interesting teaching her. She has had a parenting class on Sundays but yesterday was the last day so she is finally able to come to church!

Also, an interesting lesson I learned this week is don't eat raw ginger from strangers on the street. We were talking to this man at the bus stop and he was just holding a thing of ginger... So we asked him if he was going to cook something with it. And he said no.. he just eats it raw, that he is a raw vegan. So he broke off some ginger for us to try... REGRET! It was so spicy that I started choking and couldn't really talk. Haha. But he was cool. We said a prayer with him before he got on his bus!

Anyway, it has been a good week! Missionary work is always an adventure! The gospel brings so much joy in my life. I'm so blessed to have a family that loves me! Thanks for all your love and support! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

A member gave Sister McKee and I this awesome cat teapot. We love cats! MEOW!

Thanksgiving Turkeys full of feathers of the things Sister McKee and I are grateful for.

November 24, 2014: Miracles!

I hope you all are doing well and have had a good week! Its has been a great week here in Surrey! We saw some amazing miracles!

Tuesday night we got to meet with an amazing new investigator. Her name is Candice and she has an 11 year old daughter name Talia. We taught the Restoration and Candice already has great faith and a desire to follow Christ! She was going to pray about her baptismal date and come to church. Well yesterday, she didn't show up to church. So we were sad because we thought she was going to be like the other investigators we have taught where you have an amazing 1st lesson and then they drop off the face of the earth! But yesterday afternoon she finally texted us back! So we were so happy and since she is a single mom, she works long hours but we are meeting with her tonight and we are so excited! We are praying so hard for them because we know they can get baptised next month. Pray for Candice and Talia! :)

Then we had another awesome lesson this week with a 16 year old Indian boy named, Aman. Sister McKee had been teaching him for a while before I came. One day he just showed up at church and found the seminary kids and wanted to learn more! We taught him for a while and then passed him to the Elders in the ward to teach him and then when the Elders moved out we taught him again. But he was still struggling to see how God has answered his prayers to know that He really is there. We also got a call from him earlier this week saying that His parents aren't going to let him come to church or meet with us until February because they want him to focus on applying to colleges and stuff. But he could meet with us one more time. Sister McKee and I prayed to know what to teach him. We thought it might be nice to end our meetings for a while by reading 2 Ne 31 with him. Oh was that inspired! The lesson went so well. We had an amazing member with us. When we were reading he was like "I didn't know how important baptism really is!" and then a little later he just looked at us and was like "There really is a God!" and he could not stop smiling! It was so amazing! We got him to commit to reading the Book of Mormon and then explain to his parents how important church was to him and to pray for help while he did this. We tried texting him to see how it went but got nothing back and he didn't show up to church. But as he acts in faith, God will help him! Pray for Aman! :)

Also this week we got a call from our bishop saying that there is a man at his work (Pricepro - which is an addiction recovery place that is founded and ran by a member) who is a graduate from the program and wants to get baptized! We are teaching him tonight. We also got a call from a former investigator saying she wants to be taught again and we are going to meet up with her on Wednesday. But we are so amazed at all these miracles and blessing we saw this week. The Lord really does have a hand in His work. I'm so grateful to be a missionary, to invite people to come unto Christ each day. It is such a blessing! Surrey is such an amazing place, I'm so blessed to serve here with Sister McKee!

Happy Thanksgiving to all those Merican's out there! :)

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Matching Outfits
Sister McKee and Sister Lofthouse
Surrey Apartment

Sister McKee's friend sent her moustaches!!

November 17, 2014: Little India

Hope you are all doing well! Its been a pretty interesting week here in little India!

This week we had an amazing zone meeting where we talked about steps to get people to baptism, one of them being to boldly invite them. It was just an inspiring meeting all around! Then that night all of our plans fell throw.. and our back up plans... So we decided to stop by a potential investigator named Keisha. I met her a couple weeks ago at the bus stop and she was wanting to get her baby baptized. SO we set a time we could met up with her and teach her more but she didn't show up to the appointment. So we dropped by and and she let us in! I was going in expecting to just to introduce the Book of Mormon but then I saw Sister McKee turn to 2 Nephi 31 and I was like "Baptism!" All we talked about was baptism and she is so awesome! She seemed so ready to make the changes she needed to. And we committed to a date! The spirit was so strong the whole time and we didn't even have to invite her to come to church, she asked about it herself! We were so excited after the lesson! However... We havent been able to get in contact with her ever since! And she didnt come to church... It seems like whenever we find someone and set them a date they drop off the face of the earth!! Its crazy!? Like are they all at the same place? Haha if so, I hope we can find it. But I hope and pray we can meet with her again!

Then yesterday at church we were a little bummed because we thought we wouldn't have any investigators there. Then in Sunday School the Bishop came and got us and this former investigator just showed up at church! So we taught him and talked a little more about baptism! And he wants to be baptized! But... There are some things that will make him wait a year but it was so cool how he just showed up out of the blue! Blessings!

We have seen lots of little blessings/miracles this week! And we have talked to so many people and have a good list of potential investigators. But they are so hard to get in contact again. So maybe they are just not quite ready for the gospel yet. But one day, I pray! Its been such a good week though!

Funny story... Sister McKee and I were leaving the bus stop when I hear someone trying to get our attention behind us... So I turn around and its this black guy and he told us that his name was Samuel. That he was Samuel from the Bible. And when he said that me and Sister McKee said at the same time "Oh... Thats nice..." Haha. Then he was telling us how Samuel in the bible was a beggar. So I think he was trying to ask for money in some kind of weird way... But we gave him a mormon.org card and he seemed content.

Hope you all are doing well! Mission life is so amazing! My testimony and conversion to the Lord has grown so much! Thank you all for the love and support!

Love you all!

Sister Lofthouse :)

Awkward mission apartment couch selfie... lol
Sister McKee and Sister Lofthouse

November 10, 2014: Inviting

I hope you are all doing well! Things here in Surrey have been pretty good! Me and SIster McKee have been working hard!

Last Monday we met wih our investigator Martha again. The first time we met her she was pretty drunk... But she still rememebered she wanted to be baptized so that was good! So we just went over the Word of Wisdom again. Then on Saturday I was on exchanges and we randomly ran into her! So I confirmed if it was okay if we still came and taught her that night. But when we can knocking at her door she basically dropped us. So that was kind of a bummer but she just needs to be ready to make those changes in her life and she feels like she is not quite that ready to make such big changes in her life. But I do have hope that one day she will be! :)

We have been doing a lot more finding, or now in our mission we are calling it "inviting", and it is always such a wild time talking to people on the streets! This one lady said she doesn't believe in God but she talks to crows and that brings her happiness in life! Who needs God when you have crows? Haha. :) We were also talking to people at a bus stop and this girl walks up to us and said " Aren't you going to preach to me?"... Which always scares me and little. But she was really nice and and she knew th Bible well adn quotes a scripture or something saying how woman should always wear shirts. And she was wearing a skirt so she basically just liked us because we were wearing skirts. :) Also the sweetest thing happened yesterday! I went up to talk to this old lady but she was completely deaf. So I made the sign of Jesus Chirst and gave her a Plan of Salcation pamphet and she was soooo thankful and it was so sweet and it basically gave me the best feeling ever! But we have also seen so many miricles as we have been "inviting" people! I can see that the Lord puts us in the path his wants us to be in! We also knocked on this apartment complex and it was gold!! So hopefully our appointments with the people we found will go well this week! But we truly are just instruments in His hands! We are nothing without His help! :)

Hope you are all doing well! Thank you for your love and support! Have a great week! Also if you wish to write me and send it directly to me. The address to my apartment is

5965 151 st

Surrey, BC V3S 5L5

Canada

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

November 3, 2014: Exchanges, Meet the Mormons, and Lamb!

Hope everyone is doing well! I love you all! I have had such a great week here in Surrey! I have grown so much in the past week!

On Tuesday we went on exchanges. I was put with a sister who has only been out for a transfer and we stayed in my area so it was a little hard because I had to remember how to get tot places and such! But we had a lesson with one of our investigators... To say the least, she is not the easiest investigator to work with. She has so much knowledge! Knows lots about other cultures and religions, the bible, books taken out of the bible, she is also getting her masters in psychology. She has Masonic and Metaphysical beliefs that I don't really understand. I knew I would have to take the lead in the lesson and I was so nervous so I prayed all day that it would go well. And wow, did it! It was such a good lesson! It wasn't easy and I was relying on the spirit so much! Through the spirit I was able to answer her questions and help her with her concerns! She said she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon...I was nervous to invite her to baptism but I do and she said "Well, I have nothing against baptism, so I guess so!" I was just so shocked! Haha. But she said her would after she came to know if the Book of Mormon is true. But such a good lesson. She said she can tell that missionaries are different because that truly care about people and what they are saying. It is scary because we know she is reading us when we are with her! Haha. But it was just such a good lesson! Sister McKee was praying it would go well, I surly was, and the member we took was to! Wow, it really just was a miracle!!

This week we had a Zone Conference with President and Sister Burt. We watched meet the mormons! Which is super cool because so far it has only been in the States. If you haven't watched it yet, go and watch it now! It was so good! I really like the story at the end about the lady that came into the church as a single mom at age 16... Then her son was going on a mission! Yeah, she is like all the people we are teaching right now. People who have been through so much that the Gospel can help them so much! It was really uplifting to watch! I also got to see the Vancouver Temple! So that was fun :)

Last night we met with that investigator again. She invited us over for dinner and invited the really sweet member that comes with us to her lessons. She cooked lamb!! I've never had it before and it was so good! Then she was telling us that since she has been reading and praying about the Book of Mormon that all of these other churches have been knocking at her door. She has been taking it as a sign that she is supposed to be learning something from it. We watched the Restoration DVD with her and her four daughters. The daughters were so fixed on the TV and afterwards they asked if it was a true story and we were like YEAH!! Haha. But it was cool to see them enjoy it. But our investigator is so confused right now because of all the things that are happening since she started praying about the Book of Mormon. We hope and pray that we can guide her and help her receive a clear witness from the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true. We are meeting with her again on Tuesday so I hope everything goes well!

As a funnier note... Halloween in Canada is wild! They light off fireworks and everything! All day me and Sister McKee were playing "Firework or Gunshot?" haha. Also we decided to drop by the former investigator and on the teaching record it said that she was a drunk... No... she is just mentally handicapped. While we were talking to her at her door she started picking her nose. She was going deep and for the longest time!!! I almost started laughing!! Haha but we decided to visit her again yesterday and she just told just she spent her whole pay check on crack... I'm surprised how open people are! Haha. Its always an interesting time in Surrey. But this place is so blessed! Me and Sister McKee and working hard and see the Lord help everyday and it is so humbling! I love being a missionary! So many blessing. I am so grateful! Thank you all for your love and support!! I have the best family and friends in the whole! I hope you are all doing well. Keep up the hard work in whatever you are doing! Love you!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse :)

Vancouver Canada Temple

Sister Lofthouse and Sister McKee being silly in the car!

October 27, 2014: Wow, What a Week!!

Wow what a week! I hope you are all doing well! Me and Sister McKee have been working so hard and have seen the blessings that come from that. We had a few nights where all of our plans fell threw... But we just kept trying our hardest! We got 7 new investigators this week! So we just have been so blessed and have seen the Lord's help in everything we have done. Surrey is such an... interesting place! Crazy stuff happens each day but this place is such a great place to serve becasue sooo many people need the gospel in their lives!

On Monday all of our plans fell threw... So we didn't really know what to do. So we were in our car and we prayed that we would know what The Lord wanted us to do. Even before Sister McKee started praying I got the impression to go at stop by a lady named Brittanni. She was just a potential investigator who we tried to visit before but then stopped texting us back. I was a little scared from this prompting because I didn't want to scare her away by being too pushy. But we drove over to her house and she was there and we set up a time to come back! Brittanni is a young single mom who has been through a lot. We took a member with us next time and helped her set up a crib... I was impressed from mine and Sister McKee's crib setting up skills. Lol. But we didint have a lot of time to actually teach a whole lesson but towards the end she was asking a lot of questions so we are teaching her again tonight and are excited!

On Tuesday we had some time to knock doors... Which is always a struggle. And we had no success. And mostly we talked to people that were sooo high. It smells like weed a lot here. But I was kind of giving up hope when I said a little pray that some one would just talk and listen to us. Then the next door... An older lady answered the door. We talked to her for a while about the role of God in her life. Then we asked if we could asy a prayer with her and we asked her if there was anything she needed help with that we could pray for her about. And she said she was in a lot of pain. So we prayed and she really opened up and told us how she could see that we had so much light in our eyes and we gave her the address to our church and she said that may be the thing she needs in her life right now! So that was a pretty cool experience.

This week we also taught another lesson with a couple named John and Oriel. We read 3 Nephi 11 with them and talked about baptism. They said they werent sure if they were ready or willing to change but that they would pray about it. They also asked if smoking and drinking were bad. And we explained a little about the Word of Wisdom. They asked for scriptures about overcoming temptation. It was cool because we didn't even commit them to keep it! But Oriel and her son went to the ward trunk or treat and seemed to have a good time! We are meeting with them again tonight!

Saturday was our walking day and we had a 40 minute walk to a lesson and on our way we were knocking doors and this YSA aged indian girl opened the door annd she was so nice and we talked with her for a bit. I asked her if she had been cooking because it smelt sooo good! And she said she had and invited us in. Her cute little indian grandma who speaks no english was just cooking in the kitchen! They made us homemade stuffed naan bread and it was sooo good! I can't believe how nice they were! We got her number and gave it to the YSA sisters in the area. :)

Yesterday was such a great day! We had 5 investigators at church! Sofia and who daughters who are 8 and older and a 16 year old boy named Aman. The girls loved church! We met again with Sofia last night and because her and her husband and not together, he gets them on the weekends. And he doesnt really want hem involved in any church stuff... So we are praying that his heart will be softened and will continue to allow them to come to church!

Being on a mission is so great! Its a lot of hard work and sometimes you don't even see the effects but its worth it! I have learned sooo much I can't even believe it! Thanks you all so much for your love and support! we talk to people each day that have been through so much with family life and such and I am just so blessed to have a family who loves me no matter what! I love you all so much!! Keep working hard in whatever you are doing! Dont forget that Heavenly Father loves you so much! Pray to him each day! And pray for missionary opportunities!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse :)

Sister McKee and Sister Lofthouse with huge Maple leaves!

Handing out a Japanese Book of Mormon

October 20, 2014 Arriving in Vancouver Canada

Hello Everyone!!

What a week! I made it to Canada! It was funny because we woke up early Wednesday morning and we got on a bus and I thought it would take us right to the airport... Yeah I was wrong. They dropped us off at a train station. There was 18 of us going to Vancouver. They unloaded all the luggage from the bus and I thought the bus driver would give us instructions but nope. All of the sudden the bus just drove away! He didn't even wish us good luck! Rude! So there were 18 of us little mormon kids looking at each other like "Uhh... So now what do we do?" We did have a travel "leader" but it was a missionary who just learned English so he couldn't understand any of the instructions in the packet they gave him. And we tried reading them but they were just weird! So we talked to a worker there and they helped us get on a train on the right direction. :) Then we had to take another train to the airport but it was just so funny because there were so many of us and we all had 3 suit cases wondering around in a line! But we made it to the airport and we saw Quinton L Cook there! We made our way down to our gate and to our surprise we saw our mission president's wife, Sister Burt!!!! She came home to Utah because her daughter had a baby and they made it so she could travel back with us! The Lord knew we couldn't have done it alone. Haha. But the plane was really small! And the kid behind me was throwing up. But I felt his pain... Been there, done that. Lol. But I slept a little which was amazing and then the flight was over! It was so short! Finally we got out of the airport and met our mission president! The sisters rode in his car to the mission office. Which is the richmond chapel which is kind of weird. But wow. Richmond is where all the Chinese people are! On every sign there is Chinese! So thats cool. Vancouver really is so diversed.

Thursday we finally got to met our new companions! My missionary mom is Sister McKee from New Zealand! She is great! She has actually only been out for 2 transfers so thats crazy! But I asked her to explain a little more about our area and she said its the ghetto... So I was expecting the worst! Haha. But sister Ditto and her companion actually came with us for the rest of the day and night because they were taking a train up north more for their area in the morning. We had so time to do some street contacting. Which is always a wild ride in Surry! Basically like 80% of people are from east india and you see guys in turbans all the time! But they don't speak any english... We split up in companionships and later when we met up again Sister Ditto talked to a woman named Bethany. She is gold. So ready for the gospel! They set up an appointment for us to teach her. We were so excited! So a couple days later we get a call from the bishop and said we got a referral form Salt Lake. Turns out it was bethany! SHe went onmormon.org and look up a bunch of things. Then when we called her to see if it was still good to meet she said she had orange juice for us becasue she read we dont drink coffee! So we went over Saturday and taught the Restoration. She was so excited to read the book of mormon. And every couple of minutes, as we were teaching, she would be like " Wow, this actually makes so much sense!" We soft set her to be baptized on November the 8th. And she came to church yesterday! She loved it! And so did her 3 small kids. She is a single mom and took the bus stop the church so that shows how much she really did want to be there! She has been prepared for the gospel. Me and Sister McKee are so excited for her!!

Well, like I said Surry is in the Ghetto. And it is the most dangerous part of the mission. So it always keeps things interesting! Haha... The other day me and Sister McKee were talking to people at the bus exchange and there was this big black guy wearing white gloves punching a trash can... So we were like what the heck... And he came up to us and was like "Are you Woman of God?" And we were like "Uhh... we are missionaries." He was sooo weird and was asking the weirdest questions about arcangels that I have never heard of. He even asked me what a colony was so i was like "Like the 13 origanial?" Haha. Anyways, we talked with him for a while and Sister McKee saw someone she knew so see turned away for a second and I was trying to get rid of him and then he opened his arms and tried to hug me!! ANd I was like Ahhhh! "We give hand shakes!" And then he asked me if I was a nun. Then after Sistert McKee came back he started talking about The Book of Mormon out of no where and we tried to give him a copy but he wouldnt even touch it. He was so weird!! ANd he had a hard time seeing and he was wearing those weird white gloves! So after we were joking and Siter McKee thinks he is a bad spirit or something becasue he wouldnt be able to touch our hands. Haha but who knows... He was weird! What an interesting place surrey is!

Me and SIster McKee have been busy and missionary work is so tireding but i'll get more used it! Our apartment is in a pretty safe place so you dont need to worry that much! I love you all! Thanks for your love and support! You all mean so much to me! Pray for missionary opportunites. If there is one thing I have learned in the last week it is that The Lord has a huge hand in His work. It is comforting to know that! Being a missionary is so great and comes with so many blessings. Pray for our investigators!! Love you!!!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

On the train from MTC to Salt Lake Airport. October 15, 2015

Arriving at the Vancouver Canada Airport

President Ronald P. Burt and Sister Leslie K. Burt
Companion: Sister Holly McKee
Area: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Surrey 3rd Ward

Trainer: Sister Holley McKee
From New Zealand

Outside the ward mission leader's apartment right after missionary coordination meeting.
Taken by Elder and Sister Ripplinger

October 13, 2014: Heading to the Promised Land

Hello Friends and Family!!

Its been another great week at the MTC! I cant believe I am leaving Wednesday! My teacher who served in Vancouver calls it The Promise Land and its funny. I am not ready! But it will be fun to actually see the sky again. :) haha...

So last Monday was the first time me and Sister Ditto taught Kitty (college student from China) yeah... It was a humbling experience.... We went in there thinking we would just teach about the restoration and Sister Ditto was talking about God is our Loving Heavenly Father and transitioning it to me to talk about Christ when Kitty was like "wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... Who is God?" Yeah we thought she had a little more concept about God... And we were not prepared. Poor little Kitty was soooo confused as we were just saying things that came to mind about God... Then Sister Ditto was talking for a while and all of the sudden she was like "Sister Lofthouse, do you have anything to add?" And I was thinking oh shoot... NO! so I was just like "Uhhh... Yeah" and said something about the Holy Ghost and confused her more... The only good part of the lesson was when we both bore powerful testimony of God. :) Then our next lesson with her went much better! We told her the story of the 1st vision because she loves stories! We gave her the invitation to pray but she wanted us to pray so that she could know how... So I was like "If we pray at fist will you pray after?" And she was like uhhh maybe... So we got on our knees and Sister Ditto said a prayer. And I just stayed on my knees and was like "Kitty will you pray and ask God your questions and pray right now?" And she said yes! And it was funny because Sister Ditto had already sat back in her seat but I knew if she didnt pray then, she wouldn't do it later in the lesson. So that was a big step with Kitty... But she still didnt really believe in God... So the next lesson we decided to read with her the story of the Ammon teaching King Lamoni about God and she loved it! She said she got her witness then and she told me and Sister Ditto that we are like Sister Ammons and it was so cute! She also gave us a hug after the lesson so that is always a good sign! But sadly we didnt get to meet with her again because she was sick for out last lesson scheduled with her but we were going to commit her to baptism!

But our other investigator, Matt, (who is actually one of our teacher pretending to be Matt) is doing great! Our first lesson was a little rough but the next one I taught about agency and I committed him to baptism! So that felt great! But he is really easy because whenever we ask him if he has any questions he always says no... But we only have one more lesson with him!

I am really going to miss Sister Ditto and the rest of the district when we leave. At lunch, all we do is laugh... And I got them meowing! And saying hashtag and other weird and crazy things I do! Me and sister Ditto still have laughing problems when we are role playing but we just dont look at each other and sometimes we can control ourselves. Haha :) And as a district we have already talked about how when everyone is home we are going to have a cabin/boating reunion in Bear Lake and just watch spongebob and iCarly all day! Haha they are all fun :)

Probably the best day of the week was Yesterday!! Sundays at the MTC are kind of weird... But all the Sisters go to Relief Society where they just have a speaker talk to us. We sang As sisters in Zion but they changed the words to apply to sister missionaries and it was so powerful! I teared up a little! They also showed a picture that Greg Olsen painted of sister missionaries praying and I love it! You should all go look it up! And see if you can look up the the new words to The Sisters in Zion because it really was so good! Then the speaker was amazing! One point she talked about that I really liked was that we are sisters. Our Badge shows to everyone that we are all children of God and brothers and sisters! I cant think of every better than having that on your badge... Other than Christ's name. Haha :) But I really liked that. :) Then Sacrament Meeting was kind of interesting too, its only our branch of 17 missionaries. And yeah I was picked by the branch president to speak. And its all Sister Ditto's fault! She emailed the Branch President in the our weekly email to him and told him I had a really good talk prepared! Yeah... she thought she was funny. But I told her she was dead to me. But anyways I talked about how repentance is about changing and used the quote from Erza Taft Benson " When you choose to follow Christ, you choose to be changed." And told the story of Alma the younger when he repented he wanted others to feel the joy of the Atonement and dedicated his life to preaching the word of God. Anyways, it turned out pretty good but I was really nervous even though it will probably be the smallest sacrament meeting I will ever speak at! Haha... Then Sunday evening our devotional speaker was the man who is in charge of the church's media. So he was showing us how powerful mormon.org is and #becauseofhim and #itwasmom. AND he showed us the new video that is coming out after thanksgiving about how Christ is the gift we should be worrying about. It was really cool how he showed us!

But I am so happy being a missionary! I am filled with God's love for others. now looking back on it I have been prepared all my life for this! My favorite primary song was "We'll bring His World His Truth"! I cant wait to help change lives to the people in Vancouver! Our Branch President always says that its our time to be a rock star... Well, I have wanted to be a rock star since Kindergarten. :) I hope I can live up the the title I wear on my badge! Our teacher who served in Vancouver just tells us of all these amazing stories he had up there and Im so excited! We have our last lesson with him tonight and he says he is leaving the best for last! So Im excited! He also said he would teach us some phrases in Mandarin that he learned there so Im really excited for that! Everyone pray for the people I will meet in Vancouver that their hearts may be open to our message! I love you all! Thanks for your love and support and prayers! Never forget that God loves you! Through Jesus Christ ALL men may be saved.

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

October 6, 2014: Hello from the MTC

Oh, man. The MTC is great! The spirit is so strong and I love being a missionary! I have been able to learn so much and I wouldn't trade these past 5 days for anything! I have lots I want to share so I hope I have time! My companion is Sister Ditto! She is from Utah and is so great! He have a good time! And she has laughing problems like me... But I will get to that later. All of our district, which has 4 sisters and 4 elders are all going to Vancouver! And there are quite a few going to Vancouver! There are 18 missionaries leaving the 15th to Vancouver. :) But our district is great and we learn so much from each other.

So, Wednesday I got dropped off and then my host took me around, I got my badge, and papers and stuff and we went up the my classroom. My teacher I met on instragram, Bro. Gardner, and our other teacher Bro. Combs was there. Bro. Gardner served in Vancouver! So we always want him to tell us stories and things about Vancouver but we dont ever have time. :(

Thursday was pretty long because we had a lot of class time. Also it was really hard for me to fall asleep so I was pretty tired. No three hour nap for me!! We learned about the "investigator" me and sister Ditto will be teaching named Matt. But really he is just Bro Combs pretending to be an investigator. And we learned about how to do personal study and companionship study and it was awkward because they were telling us to pray for our investigator but we felt awkward because he isnt really real... Haha. So after class we had out 1st companionship study and me and sister Ditto decided to go out in the lobby of our building because we were sick of the classroom. So we decided to kneel and pray and we were just talking before how its awkward to pray for someone who isnt real... When Sister Ditto was saying the prayer, The elevator door opened right in front of us and people got off and I lost it!!! I got the giggles bad and I couldn't stop! Then sister Ditto started laughing and hurried and finished. We had tears running down our faces. We get really laugh-y when we have been in class for so long. But it was so funny! Then that night we had a meeting with our branch presidency. Me and Sister Ditto were assigned to be Sister Training Leaders. Which for those kiddos that dont know, they are like the sister version of Zone Leaders. But it was kind of scary because we had only been here for a day! But the actual assignment started on Sunday. But the district coming in on Wednesday is only 6 Elders. So me and sister Ditto really only have to worry about the other too sister's in our district, Sister Rood and Sister Cendreda.

Then on Friday we learned about the Doctrine of Christ in class and how to invite investigators to baptism on the first visit. Its kind of awkward because you have to role play with your companion all the time and pretend to be your investigator. Then we got to teach Matt! The lesson went better than I thought it would go and the spirit was there and everything. We wanted him to pray out loud and say a pray with us but he said no so I said it for him. So what do you do when your investigator says no to saying a prayer? You invite him to get baptized!! Haha yeah he said no. But we gave him a book of mormon and a couple commitments to keep. But now looking back they weren't that good. So we meet with him again tomorrow so we will see if he kept them. But then in our class after our lesson they taught us how to invite an investigator to pray, so that would have been helpful to know!!! Haha... But while we were role-playing I was the Matt and Sister Ditto was inviting me to pray and I lost it and started laughing again.. And Bro Gardner noticed and was like "Sister Lofthouse, maybe you need to think about why role-play is important and say a personal prayer to take it more seriously." And I just laughed and said okay. Haha. But them later Sister Ditto started laughing so I didnt feel too bad. Haha. :)

Then Saturday was Conference! And it was weird because they didnt have a set out schedule for us! But conference was so good. I liked the talk about "Which way to do face?", Neil L Anderson's about Joseph Smith and Uchtdorfs! Then in between sessions we met as a district and set some goals. One was praying and singing a hymn each time we met to study as a district because sometimes the Elders get really distracted or they just sleep. Which is kind of annoying because its like why are you here... But they will learn :) And another one was fasting for the new missionaries coming into our zone this week. But when we were writing these goals on the white board sister Ditto lost it and could not stop laughing! And she wouldn't tell anyone why. Later she told me and and it was because when Elder McCown wrote "fast" on the board, it looked like "fart" so it looked like it said "fart for new missionaries" Hahaha I love her!!! Then take night we had some time to study as a district and we started with a song and prayer and we had a great spiritual experience! Elder McCown brought some missionary/mormon stories and read one called "The Friend" and it was so good! I had tears in my eyes! Try looking that story up! Its so powerful. But the spirit was so strong and my testimony was definitely strengthened. Also, Im sad only Elder's sang at Conference! God must love them more! Haha jk, but for reals. :)

Then yesterday was a day of sitting! The seats we have for conference are sooo hard. And I sat for 8 hours in them! But I loved the Prophet's talk on following Christ! Ah.. So good. I love getting to invite other to come unto Christ! And I also loved all the talks about personal revelation and on prophets and such! It was so good! And between Conference we got to walk to the temple! It was like the first time I have seen the sky since being here! All the sidewalks and covered so you cant see the sky when walking around on campus. And I also ate like 3 ice creams at dinner because I was so hungry! #mission40 Everyone made fun of me and put all their ice cream wrappers on my tray so that I really looked like a fatty. :) Then that evening we watched a talk that Elder Bednar gave to the MTC about the character of Christ. About how in a situation when we would look in to ourselves and be selfish he would turn outwards and serve other people. It was so good. And a slap in the face! We can all do better and act like the savoir did! "Forget yourself and go to work!" Anyways, it was really good.

Then today we got to go to the Temple! The outside of the Provo temple may be ugly but the outside is so pretty!! It was a great session!! But I love being a missionary! Whenever I feel like it would be easier being at home I have an amazing spiritual experience and my testimony grows! I can't believe I have only been here for 5 days! It feels like weeks! Haha. But its fun teaching investigators! And I love learning! We are teaching a girl from China tonight. Her name is Kitty! I love that! Oh... and yeah one time Sister Ditto caught me meowing! My bad! but it was funny! She is a good sport to put up with me and my weirdness! But at least Im fun!! :) Thank you all for your love and support! Thanks family for the Dear Elders! I felt bad because no one in my district have really got letters and I got three dear elders in one day! but send me hand written letters so I have your addresses. I have time each night to write letters!! LSo I havent hear too much from friends... So you still havetime to send one while im in the MTC!! I loved to hear from you! I love you guys so much! God loves you! I hope you feel that! I miss you guys! Have a great week!!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Ps. My district are losers and we can't figure out how to send pictures! So sorry mom :) Also mom, forward this to brynde, ian, brooke, and jordan. They never gave me there emails... Also I forgot to say! But they just started giving sister training leaders and zone leader cell phones in the MTC! We can only get calls from the branch president and only call him. Everything else has a password. But we did cheat the system and took a selfie! But we cant get into it to delete it! So i feel bad for whoever has to see that awkward selfie of me and Sister Ditto in the future. Haha :)