week 14

first of all... its cold here. already! ahh! i didn't think it would come this soon but here we are in coats already. mom... can you send my winter clothes??? haha #canadaprobs. but what a blessing it is to be a missionary! i love it everyday. i just want to say THANK YOU for all the notes from my family and friends for my 100 day mark. those letters really inspired me and i am grateful for so much love, prayers, and support! i love you all :) you really do grow to appreciate ALL your loved ones when you are away on a mission. the Lord is blessing us so much here in Toronto. we have had so many miracles this week, its hard to even fathom! more health probs of course, we did get rid of the bed bugs luckily! also i got a cavity filled and my retainer fixed which made 2 days at the dentist. a struggle with travel time cause it takes quite a bit of our day, but we worked super hard with all our other time, and it really payed off :)

we have been focusing on finding new investigators (a zone goal of finding atleast 2 per companionship this week. easy for english, harder for spanish but totally possible!) and it came to sunday where we only had 1 new. after talking to literally everyone and meeting at least 20 spanish people, all rejecting us... we prayed with so much faith that on sunday that we could find just 1 more. about 7:00 last night we got a referral, rang the doorbell, and met the cutest little couple from El Salvador :):) not only did we find 1... but we found TWO! 2 hours before the week was over. MIRACLE. another miracle would be when John + Corey called us with a trunk full of groceries again, and the nicest member in our ward, Andrioni who has fed us all week. MIRACLE x2. Simon has kept himself away from the cigarettes all week long and is ready to bebaptized this sunday! another MIRACLE. sadly, we were all caught up in God helping us so much that we only had 1 investigator at church... hahaha probably cause we usually have 6 that all just come without us having to say anything and God was trying to tell us to work for it. we are definitely humbled now :)

Thursday was my first Zone Conference in the mission :) its an 8 hour meeting and we had to get up at 5 just to travel to it! #bigmissionprobs but wow it was worth it. definitly a re-boost spirit FILLED meeting! our mission president is an inspired man. we learned so much, and i can't even tell you how much my testimony grew just from that meeting. i love this gospel! we learned how not to fear man. to remember that "i am a disciple of Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word among His people. (3 Nephi 5:13) to use our authority and declare the gospel. the spirit filled the room as missionaries testified of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. i'll never forget how touching it was to hear this quote from an elder "ill forever be grateful for the sacrifice i have made to serve my mission, because i learned its not a sacrifice for all i've gained." SO TRUE. i feel im gaining just as much as the people i'm teaching.

1 last experience, we taught a lesson this week with a few members, an investigator, and a few less actives. everyone is in a very different position spiritually, but the spirit filled the room as Hermana Dudley and i bore testimony of the gospel and the power in the temples, through the priesthood, through the atonement, and in the scriptures. our investigator was in tears, as was everyone (including us) in the room. the spirit you feel when testifying is like none other, espiecially since it was in spanish, and instead of me thinking about how to speak/conjugate, the Holy Ghost was testifying through me, and i was able to teach without even thinking about the words to say in spanish. i am forever grateful for the gift of tounges!

have a good week :) read your scriptures!

xoxo, Hermana Horton