Allô! 

Well this week was so much better than the past month we have had. I don't know if it's the Christmas spirit, or the snow, or maybe everyone drank some hot chocolate or something, but it's wonderful! There were so many miracles that we were able to witness, and we are so much happier.

First things first, I was able to go into Kanata to have an exchange with sister Jex. She was pretty nervous since we had to switch the day, and they didn't have much planned for that day. She did a great job of setting up passby after passby after passby. We had about 12 names to go and visit which helped fill our day. Unfortunately for us, it was raining and freezing that day and either no one was home, or no one wanted to talk to us. It was getting late, and discouragement was starting to seep it. However, something I have been really working on is reserving the hours from 6-9pm as "sacred time" to focus on proselyting. During that time Sister Jex and I were able to have 3 lessons that were not planned for! 1 with a current investigator, 1 with a potential, and 1 with a less active. It was great to see how focusing on the counsel of Elder Bennett really works!

One night sister Paine and I had nothing planned so we figured we could knock some doors in a neighborhood near our house. Knocking is definitely not up there with my favorite things to do, but you can't always avoid it. It was pretty cold, and the idea of putting on all our gear to get out there was less than appealing, but we did it. As we arrive to the first house it was great! The man was super nice, and he had a little daughter that just loved us. He was busy but invited us to come back another time to share the Christmas message. The next few houses weren't as successful, but people were still nice. About 5 or 6 houses in, we met Omar and his family. They are from Mali and are actually Muslims. They are the sweetest people ever. They immediately invited us in and let us share the Christmas video. They were touched by it, and loved the service ideas!

A cool experience we had this week was with our new investigator, Debora! She was a referral we received about 6 weeks ago from the zone leaders. We contacted her immediately and she was not interested. The other day she texted us and said, "Are you the girls who want to talk to me about Jesus?" and asked if we could meet. We were so surprised but of course said yes! It was amazing. She is only 19 and moved her a couple months ago from Cote D'Ivoire. She only speaks French and is looking to make some friends. I am so happy that she decided to contact us, I can't wait to keep working with her. 

Probably the best part of this week would have to be our ward Christmas party. The ward did a wonderful job with the decorations and the food and the games. However, what made it amazing was the fact that Suze and her 3 little boys went! She had a baptismal date but we had to drop it because she already believes she has been baptized by proper authority and received the holy ghost from another church. It's a bit sensitive anytime we bring up baptism. However, the party was a great place for her to meet members, and ask more questions that she has about the church. The kids had a blast singing, getting gifts, and playing with all the other kiddos. It was so great to have them there!

The Christmas season makes everything magical, I love it! I am so excited for the rest of this month where we will continue to share the initiative and do simple acts of service to ease everyones burdens a little more!

Love,

Sœur Garcia 

Scripture of the week:

Matthew 1:23 

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name  Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us

Quote of the week:

"Which church are you a pastor for?"

"I'm a pastor for...Jesus"