April 4, 2016: Ah! Thats all I have to say.

Hello Family and Friends!!

Wow. Time is going by way to fast. Ah! I'm grateful for every moment I have been a missionary. I just feel so blessed. I love when we are able to see God's hand in all things.

This week we were really wanting to find 3 new investigators. We had originally planned to go to this one sky train station, but how time worked out, if we had went there we would have had only like 10 minutes there before we would need to turn back. So we prayed for guidance! We decided to take the bus to a stop about 10 minutes away. We got in line for it and started talking to the girl in front of us and she is the sweetest little Taiwanese girl ever! She has been in Canada for a few months learning English and she has been wanting to come check out church. Blessings! Then we get off at the stop we wanted to and go up to the intersection to decided what way we want to walk down. I saw a couple 1st nation looking ladies walking towards us and get this, they started talking to us first! They asked if we were modern days nuns. lol. :) We got chatting to them and they are really cool! I was telling how I love their culture and they asked if I have ever studied it before.. .Well, kind of!! We shared with them the Book of Mormon. What completely amazed me was before we got to explaining that there was a record Jesus Christ appearing to the Nephites, they explained how they belief that Jesus showed himself to their people. I was just like, "That is exactly what this book says!" It built my faith. We are going to meet up with them and share more. God is so good to us. :)

Lots of our investigators we able to watch conference with us. I talked to President But this week and he said of how special it would be to me that in 6 months when we watch conference in October, my mind would just come back to watching it here in Vancouver with my investigators. One of our sweet investigators, Grace, came to the 1st session on Sunday but texted us later saying that she was going to watch the afternoon session on the internet because she was so emotional at President Monson's health. I just loved all of the powerful testimonies that were given. I found answers to my own questions, prayers, and concerns. I did like Bonnie L. Oscarson's talk. She tells it how it is!  I sometimes get worried to go back into the world without all the protections of the mission. But the Lord has tutored me so much from being out here. I know I have not only a testimony to keep my safe, but I conversion to keep me safe. I don't just have a knowledge but I have a true belief that I am willing to act on.

I am so deeply grateful for my mission. As I have focused on others and lose myself in the service of God, I have come to realized over time that Heavenly Father, in his mercy, has blessed me so greatly. My mission has not only changed my life, but it has changed my eternities. My time in limited as a full-time missionary, but I am going to continue to work hard until the end. That I can stand blameless before God at the last day. That when I stand before Him, he can say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

I love you all so much! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers.

Love,

Sister Lofthouse 

Springtime blossoms!!

Springtime in Vancouver!!

March 29, 2016: Easter Monday.. What??

Hello Family and Friends!

I can't believe its been another week... Time is going way too fast! Ahhh! But its been a good week. :) Its been a slower week. But small miracles and still miracles nonetheless. :)

Easter was a great day. :) And Easter Monday... lol. We had 5 of our investigators at church! Both Elisabeth and Roy came. They are the couple that we have been teaching since I have gotten to Vancouver who are in wheelchairs. Roy had never been before but he woke up early to come and he loved church! Its been cool to see how his faith has grown. :) He said he will keep coming! 

Last week we met a guy on the street and talked with him and he said he was interested in learning more and he gave us his number. His name was Teardon. So we called him and text him a couple times and he finally called us back. And we are talking to him and he said he didn't really remember talking to us... but he also has some short term memory lose. And he also said his name wasn't Teardon. That is was Eugene... But we set up a time to meet him at the church. We were waiting for him out front and he got out of the car and it was not the same guy! They looked similar but definitely different people. But it was neat because he has actually met up with Elders in the past and is really looking for something to help him right now. So basically it was crazy how everything worked out!

I was thinking this morning of what is the overall theme or lesson I have learned on my mission. And it was answered in Alma 57 with the 2000 Striping Warriors. After a battle they were badly wounded but not one of them actually perished. "And now, their preservation was astonishing to our whole army, yea, that they should be spared while there was a thousand of our brethren who were slain. And we do justly ascribe it to the miraculous power of God, because of their exceeding faith in that which they had been taught to believe—that there was a just God, and whosoever did not doubt, that they should be preserved by his marvelous power. Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually." (Alma 57:26-27) They saw the goodness of God. That is exactly what I have seen throughout my mission. That when someone is looking for something and exercising even just a little bit of faith, He shows them His goodness and puts them in our path. He has showed me His goodness as He has helped me feel His love through the hard times and has helped me overcome my weaknesses. I have come to know our Heavenly Father on my mission in a way that I would have never known if I wasn't out here. I'm so grateful for that. He truly is aware of each of us and as we have faith, we will see his marvelous power in our lives. I am filled with exceeding joy because of the goodness of God. (Alma 57:36) I love you all so much! Thank you for your love, support, and prayers. It means so much. See you in a few....

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Pretty bush!!

Overlooking Vancouver!!

Coolest house ever!!

March 21, 2016: Pig Ears

Hello Family and Friends! 

Its been another great week here in beautiful BC! It was even sunny for a few days!!! :) But like always... Its been an adventure. In our ward that are quite a few Filipinos. Well they invited us over for dinner last night! I was not aware of what was on the menu. PIG EARS. If you know anything about me, you should know that I did not at anything part of a pig before my mission... There were a few families at the dinner and they all got me to eat it! I was not expecting it to crunch in between my teeth... So I asked them if its supposed to be like that and they told me to was the cartilage... Yeah that was the last straw. I just felt my stomach churn and signalling code up chuck... So I shuttered and swallowed it all in one bit without chewing. They all laughed at me. But hey, now I can saw I have eaten pig ear! 

Our investigators are doing really well too! The boyfriend of one of our recent converts in the ward has decided that he wants to learn more and be baptized. We read with him a bit from Mosiah 18 and he set a date to be baptized in May! :) Also, we got to see Dawna this week! :) She came to the church and our Bishop's wife picked her up. We gave her a church tour and then sat down and reviewed the Gospel of Jesus Christ with her. She just understands everything! She explained to us how The Holy Ghost has been helping her out so much to calm her anxiety so that she can even meet with us! And she expressed how she would love to have it as a constant complain because she doesn't want to feel lonely any more and when she prays or reads the scriptures she just feels so much better. God's power is real! She is gaining such a special relationship with Heavenly Father because she sees immediate answers to prayers. We also asked her why baptism would be important to her and she told us how it would make her feel complete. That she is dedicated to God and living these things and be a member of Christ's church. So she set a date in April! She is so amazing. Every time we meet with her my faith is strengthened. :) Right after the lesson we had a Relief Society activity and dinner and it was great! Dawna was able to meet other amazing women in the ward! She was happy and excited about it all. :) When she got home she texted us saying how much fun she had and also asked us for addition chapters in the Book of Mormon she could read that would go along with each of the lessons we have taught her. So cool! :) 

Also this week we got a media referral for a lady named Candace. She lives in a building with a buzzer and we couldn't get a hold of her so we just worked in her area and God lead us to about 5 different people who are interested in learning more! So that was a huge blessing in itself. We finally got in contact with her and we visited her. But to our surprise she has actually been baptized! She is from Calgary and was baptized 4 years ago with her kids and loved it! She was a ward missionary and everything. Then she became less active and hasn't even prayed or picked up the Book of Mormon in a year. But now she is ready to rekindle her faith and give things a try again. And that's all God requires of us to strengthen our relationship with the Savior again. She is amazing as well and its cool to see her re-act on the faith that she once acted on. 

"And behold , there is one thing which is of more importance than they all - for behold the time is not far distant that the Redeemer liveth and cometh among his people." (Alma 7:7) Christ truly is the most important then all the things I could talk about! He is the author of eternal salvation to all who will obey Him. (Heb. 5:9) Through Him we can truly find new life. We can find a deeper since of peace, joy, purpose, and directed in our lives. He has the power to heal us physically and spiritually. "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off their faces." The more I see other's lives change for the better from living the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the more I see it change me. I have seen it heal me. I have seen it fill me with great joy and make it so I don't feel lonely. He truly is always there waiting for us to take the steps to reach out to Him. Hallelujah. I love you all so much! Thank you for you love, support, and prayers!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse 

Rocks on the beach! 

Feeling cool with the Book of Mormon

Us with our recent convert Nikki. :) 

Spring time in BC :) 

March 14, 2016: Sister Sandra Humphrey :)

Hello Family and Friends!

Its been another great week at the best place on Earth... British Columbia! It still amazes me so much when I see the Lord direct us into someone's path. :)

Our friend, Sister Sandra Humphrey was baptized this weekend! She was just so excited all week and every time we see her she just always tells us her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how God answers prayers. Its so cool to see. :) On Saturday she was all ready for her baptism by 4pm and it started at 7! We went and picked her up and took the bus to the church with her. :) She loves all the support in the ward and is just so thankful for everything. After she got baptized we asked her how she felt and she said she felt just so light and free. :) She also came to church the next day wearing a white sweater and white skirt. :) So cute! She's doing great!

This week we also got to see Dawna. When we walked in she wasn't quite herself... She had a hard week and she says normally when she feels like this she shuts everyone out. She thought about cancelling with us but decided not to because she didn't think it would be fair for us. We told her she could just vent to us and we would listen. She has been having some work problems but realizes these things could be happening because a better opportunity is going to come up. She hadn't read anything we left her or had prayed for a while... We taught about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That through living it we find a deeper sense of hope and purpose even during the hard times. We also talked about the Holy Ghost and how it directs us and comforts us. It was amazing to see things change in her right then. She was laughing and smiling and she even said that she didn't even know why she was feeling so down and how she wished she would have prayed during the hard times. She also came to realized by herself (or from the Spirit) that she had to feel that sorrow so that she could feel of this great joy! She also asked, "So when do you know you are ready to go to church??" Haha it was so cute! We are going to take her on a church tour and get her out to a Relief Society activity to help her feel more comfortable there. :) She keeps texting us of how excited she is. We also committed her to start saying prayers with her boyfriend (who has been inactive since he was 17.) She texted us later of how cool praying with him was. The Gospel of Jesus Christ blesses anyone who will live it. :)

Its been amazing to see how the Lord once again puts in the right place at the right time here in this big city! One day this week we were going to try to contact a referral with got and when we got off the train, I recognized someone waiting at the bus stop. It was the Bishop from Vanderhoof ward!!! What are the odds... His son is in the hospital down here. I hope us running into him shows him that God is aware of him. Also last night was pretty crazy. All our plans kept falling through but we prayed that we would be at the right place at the right time to be where He needed us to be. So we looked at the map and decided where to go. Well,after a couple train stops we realized we for got our phone... So we decided we needed to go back... By the time went back and got it, we realized we wouldn't have time to do our original plan. So we decided to go on a bus. And there was one lady at the stop and we started talking to her but to my surprise, it was Jwan! An investigator from a few weeks back who's phone stopped working! We told her we could walk over to the church right then and teach her and she came! :) It was great.

"And those who did belong to the church were faithful; yea, all those who were true believers in Christ took upon them, gladly, the name of Christ." (Alma 46:15) Sandra's baptism has just reminded me of how much blessings come from gladly taking upon ourselves the name of Christ. To take on His work and His ministry. Yes, its takes effort. Yes, it takes sacrifice. But what great blessings come. My mission has changed my life. It has truly shown me that when we are serving others, we are only in the service of our God. As we forget about ourselves and just go do what the Lord wants us to do and expect us to do we see great things happen. We see the Gospel change others lives, but we see it change ours. Its purifies us. It gives us a great desire to be doing good continually. I love you all so much and an so grateful for your love, support and prayers. Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lofthouse

Sandra's baptism!! 

Brother Crossley baptized her. He has been active now for a year and was so excited for the opportunity!