Granite Bay Joy

Oh hey!
The past 7 days have been good but a lot slower than previous weeks.
Soo many of our people have been sick which means lots of dropped
appointments. We knocked a ton of doors this week! There are two
contact lists we have been working on in the area. The hard thing with
tracting is that lots of people aren't even home during the day and
the ones that do answer the door are most often not interested. We did
have some success though so I'm excited to follow up on that this
week. If someone saw our tracting papers they might think we are total
creeps haha! They are pretty detailed which helps keep the work
organized!

Granite Bay is like a little piece of country smack dab in the middle
of the city. There are hardly any street lights so it gets pretty dark
by 545 pm. This makes contacting tricky because it feels much later
than it really is. People get apprehensive about opening their door
when the sun has gone away.
The stars are so beautiful out here! This week I have been in awe at
the beauty of the sky, especially the moon. I wish I could just lay on
the ground and stare up there for a few minutes.
In Winnipeg I loved the sound of the geese and the trains and here it
is the sound of frogs that makes my heart happy! One of our members
lives right by a pond- the sound of the frogs overshadows any other
noise. I love it! I point it out to sister Sheffield any time I can.
It's the simple things which remind you Heavenly Father is mindful of
his children. Simple joys are all around if we take the time to notice
them.

Granite bay also doesn't have sidewalks which I never noticed until it
was pointed out to me. Often we have to park the car in a weird way so
it doesn't stick out on the road. There is lots of wildlife here too.
On our way to church we usually see or smell a skunk.I really enjoy
where I am right now. The work is exciting and the members put forth a
great effort- they are wonderful!

The best part of the week was the world wide missionary broadcast.
Every missionary on the globe was tuned in. It was fun to think of all
my friends serving and feeling uplifted and enlightened like I was. It
was the first one the church has done in ten years. The main topic was
preaching repentance and baptizing converts but many subjects were
covered. They talked a lot about how the spirit is always the best
teacher. It was a wonderful address and a good reminder of truths
previously discovered. It was the spiritual boost I needed!

The Tuesday before the broadcast we had a day of exact obedience. It
was nice to have everyone striving to be exact. As a missionary you
can't afford to let obedience slip. Being exact brings miracles and I
need all the miracles Heavenly Father has for our companionship and
our area.

Exchanges happened this week! We do them once a transfer - you get a
new companion and sometimes area for a day. On the exchange I got to
meet one of the Granite Bay 1st ward investigators. He is the most
prepared man I've ever met!!! S works as a lawyer so he has a love for
details and information. He wants to read EVERYTHING about the church
and the gospel. While he has been working with the missionaries he has
read the standard works, many general conference talks and anything
else he can get his hands on. When I showed him the institute manuals
on the gospel library app he was over the moon happy! I have been
using these in my studies for the past month and have learnt so so
much! They really help you understand the scriptures.

We had a delay with our stop smoking program - S.L (who planned on
starting Wednesday) got sick so we had to push it back. Hopefully he
will be better this week so we can get help him overcome this
addiction. Sister R is still staying strong even though it has been a
really rough week for her. I love seeing the changes people can make
when they allow Christ to lift their burdens.

The mission cars have a device (tiwi) in them that warns you if you
are speeding or driving poorly. You log in with a scan card and if you
get violations while driving they get recorded and reported. Our tiwi
has been unplugged for a long time because it started to drain the
battery and cause other problems in the car. This week elder Gilbert
(the man in charge of the cars) asked us to plug it back in. Sister
Sheffield dubbed this week the revenge of the tiwi. Haha! I don't
drive right now so it doesn't bother me. It's a neat device. I wonder
if its main market was for the church or for concerned parents....
Maybe both..

The weather has been wonderful! Tons of rain and sun at the same time
which is very odd. The frog population has exploded which makes me oh
so happy.

My ponderizing scripture is
Doctrine and Covenants 31:3
Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come;
and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of
great joy unto this generation.

I picked this one because for some reason it has been harder for me to
feel my 'tongue be loosed' Each moment I have to make a decision to
say something even when it feels awkward or uncomfortable. Being a
missionary is a blessing and I want to use this time to its fullest
potential. 'Time is slippery' as sister Sheffield says. I can hardly
believe this week will be my four month mark! I want to make everyday
count!!!

Have a wonderful day :)

-Sister Taylor