Happy Day After!

Hello Friends and Family

Well, I am staying here in Regina with Sister Ferguson so all is the same for us. Yesterday, we went to breakfast, opened presents, talked to our families, went to the Davis's for lunch with all the missionaries, and then went to dinner at a members house (which was really nice), and then back to Davis's for a good game of Phase 10. We love the Davis's; they really take care of us by giving us rides, feeding us, and now we are using their computer because today is boxing day and nothing is open. It is a huge holiday. The Davis's have hard a hard time with the kids and the more we talk to them the more they tell us how it has blessed them, but I am grateful for our family and our many blessings that all of our family is active and have lived worthy of the Spirit. That is the greatest thing we have. I LOVE YOU ALL! Have a great day. Happy New Years, and take care of yourselves.

Love, Sister North



Here we are! Getting ready to go out into the beautiful weather!


When it gets to a good temperature the wind carries snow across the ground and it looks cool. The ground moves so it looks like it should be in a movie, like smoke or dry ice.


Both lefties! What are the odds?


Our Christmas tree, supported by the 1st Presidency above it!

Dec. 19, 2007 (sorry, this is being posted a little bit late...)

Dear Family and Friends. Here is a little news from the frozen North. Well everything is going good. I am companions with Sister Ferguson from Bountiful, Utah. She and I are working hard to meet those in our path that are prepared for us. I love sharing the gospel and have learned so much from being here. I truly am grateful for my Savior and his infinite atonement for each one of us. I am grateful that he has promised us that if we believe on his name and come unto him, he will welcome us with open arms. What a blessing! I am learning to adapt to the cold, and I still have all my fingers and toes so I feel like I am ahead of the game. I love each one of you and am grateful to have gotten to have your support and love. The gospel is true and I know that we can return back home to our Father in Heaven, and that he knows and loves each one of us so personally. I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet of God because of my strong testimony that Book of Mormon is the word of God. And God wouldn't put a true book in the hands of a false prophet as my companion often says. So if we can gain a testimony in that one book that gives us the promise we will get nearer to God by reading it then we should take the challenge and find out for ourselves. I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and that the spirit of Christ will be the center because this is a very special time of year. I hope you have a wonderful new year, and as you reflect on the past year that you will see what great blessings you have received through your obedience. Merry Christmas!

Love, Sister North

Zone Conference Photos

This is my district and zone, and the whole tri-zone conference group together.
Pres. Judd had them sent to us.

Okay so wow. This week has been INCREDIBLE! I have some great news and I want you to know that I am so grateful for your prayers and concern and love! So here we go. We have a baptismal date set! The guys name is Jeff. I don't remember how much I have told you but we have taught him all the lessons and just have the commandments left. So last night we took the Davis's with us because our member cancelled. And so we went over there, and we were talking about pray oft, scripture reading, obedience, and church. So we were talking to him and he was just really listening and I told him my experience of finding out that I was suppose to go on a mission. And he asked the sincerest question: "well how do I know what to read?" Keep in mind he hates reading and he doesn't feel like he understands it when he does. So we talked about different ways we can study. And then I needed to extend a baptismal date for one of my goals and so I was scared to death. So I kind of gave the 'will you...' 'do you think...' 'ummm... would you consider' type of way of getting to it and finally I asked he said he had been as a baby, and I told him it had to be under the right authority like Christ going to John the baptist, and he was like when? Sunday? hehe we were like no, we were thinking more around 29th of December. And he agreed and he was so excited and we told him of our love for him and his great heart. Sister Davis was crying and then he was like you are going to make me cry. But pray with all your hearts that he is ready for this and can stay stronger than the advesary because he needs this in his life. He is a really good guy! So yah but transfers are Christmas day so pray me and Sister Ferguson get to stay in the area with him to see it! So we might just have a white Christmas after all.

Yesterday was incredible because we also had a tri-zone Christmas Devotional where we discussed the living Christ, the purpose of Christmas, and our purpose being out here. The spirit was amazing and I sang 2 songs in the program. Me, Sister Ferguson, and Sister Winchel, and Sister Jenkins sang "Away in a Manger". This was new for me I had never sang parts on my own in front of people. It was a little rough because we had to do it last minute. In the second song I was the only one singing soprano with Sister Ferguson alto, Elder Rupert tenor, and Elder Smiley base. It was pretty good. We sang Far Far Away on Judeas Plains. I really liked how it worked out so it was good. I held my own and I was very scared but it went fine. Elder Smiley was pretty happy with the outcome as well.

So Crystal is also doing really well, she is my neighbor and we went to Costco last week with her and now we are well stocked. She came over the other night and we talked about what is going on as we often do. She needs the gospel and she told us she started reading the Book of Mormon and we watched the Restoration video with her. Things are going good with that. Pray for her too! And also Jim and Dianne come home from BC this week we have been waiting a month for them to come home. They are the one's who we said the Lord's prayer with and discussed the Book of Mormon with her family. Pray that they are still very receptive to hearing the gospel because we want to teach them so badly!

I have to go but I love you all! I love you! and I can't wait to hear everything going on! Take care! I love you. But all is well, the cold just simply means more layers not less work. Oh yah we met two potential investigators tracting last night, it is rare to get that so we have been really blessed here in Cananda! I love you!

Love, Sister North

It is COLD!

Okay here we go. It is cold here! I always have to wear one to two pairs of thermals, tights, socks, boots, 2 pairs of gloves, skirt, shirt, sweater, blazer, coat, scarf, and sometimes ear warmers depending on what we are doing. That is my normal day outfit. If I still feel cold I just add more layers! I have worn like 3 pairs of socks and more. It is good though. I try hard to not be cold but its hard not to since it is always -20 right now at least. And usually it's closer to -30.

We have been getting lunched constantly and then Sunday, we met with a guy named Alijosha, and he wanted to just learn more. He is really open but because he is in is 20's, he goes to YSA so we got to teach him one lesson and then we headed to the broadcast. The Christmas devotional was amazing! There is only one stake here in Regina. So all those that came to the broadcast met at the stake center. There aren't a whole lot of members, but enough. It was a wonderful broadcast. I loved their stories and how they quoted the songs. It really got me excited for the christmas season.

So we have definitely had a better week! We got to teach our neighbor Crystal. We see her everyday and started teaching her Monday. We wanted to have FHE with her, so we went and talked to her on our lunch break and she said that would be fine. We came back from an appointment and found a note that said to come over for dinner at six. She made homemade chili because we were asking her about it. That night we decided to share a message with her, and she had lots of questions. She had obviously been thinking a lot about our church because she just went from one question to the next, so we sat and answered them. She is Roman Catholic, and she has 2 kids. Her boyfriend is kind of the sort that sees the bible as a guideline. It was interesting to talk to her and have his contributions, I guess she rebuked him after we left for trying to give us a hard time. She is so sweet and is always bringing us things, like cake, and oranges, and many different things. She has really become a great friend to us. We watched Joy to the World with her yesterday and in part of it, it talks about the many different prophets and she asked if there was a video about Joseph Smith so we are going to watch the restoration with her and give her a Book of Mormon hopefully today. OH YAH! She is taking us to Costco today! We are so excited!

So they don't have Laughy Taffy's here and Crystal really likes them, Sister Ferguson got some for her birthday... so would you be willing to send a bag here. I guess Canadians are healthier because they don't really have all the junk that Americans put into food like certain sugars so the Oreos taste different. I guess American Oreos are a delicacy for those missionaries that were raised on them. Hehe. We are always comparing foods and talking about things we make. So what I really want is a list of recipes. Like broccoli cheese soup, pumpkin rolls, and any unique American foods.

Okay so here is another good story. We got a flat tire last Wednesday and have been driving on a doughnut for a little bit it is fixed now. When we got the flat, a cop came to see what happened, then our zone leaders showed up so we sat in the cop car with him as he showed us all his neat toys, and the Elders fixed the tire. It was fun for sure! We had a good time and could only go like 50Km on it which is like 30 mph. It was good.

Here's another good one. We went to an investigators home whose living room is up to your knees in clutter so we went over to help her clean. It was disgusting and I was grateful that I am a somewhat clean person (ps my room and everything has been staying really clean, even sonewhat more than Sis. Fergusons). Anyways it was scary and we got a lot done like 3 huge trash bags later. We were there for around 2 hours. There was some white powder on a lid and she was like what is this? Courtney her daughter listed off either pills, doughnut powder, or a mystery substance... she then puts it on her finger and licks it and says "YUP, DOUGHNUT!" Wow. I just about lost it there in laughter. We also go to an archive where we unfold paper. Yes unfold paper. So they can get names off the records and help the people here organize there antique papers and photocopy them.

We have plans for Christmas. The Cruikshanks have invited us over to open presents with them. I am so excited they have 3 little boys and they are so funny! we will also have breakfast with them!

Everything is going well and I hope this answered some of your questions. Oh yeah, I can't put my pictures and any websites because I am only allowed on this one, and the blog won't work because of the university blocks them, so I can't even see it. We are having a tri-zone Christmas devotional next week that I am very excited about! I am working on my Canadian accent, hehe. I go to bed so tired every night! I probably am becoming no fun at nights. Oh well.

We had a nice lesson last night with a recent convert. We had her home teacher there too. Honestly it is vital to have fellowshippers in the ward. If I could encourage anything for members and missionaries, the biggest thing is fellowshipping, letting missionaries teach investigators in your home, go with them to lessons, give rides to those who would need it. It takes a lot more work on our part as missionaries to get the ward involved but honestly it is the most effective way because we aren't going to be here forever and when we are going we want them to remain faithful, and they can through help of the members. It really is crucial. Things are great I love you all so much. Take care and will talk to you soon. December is going to be a great month for us all! Have a great week and work and school! And enjoy the warmth.

Love ya all!
Love Lou, Sister North