July 26 2023: Welcome to the Weekly Season 6 Ep. 2 I hear WEEEEEEDDDDING BEEEEELLLLLS 🔔, God's Playing a Great Game Checkers

 Hello! Hello!

OH MY LANTA! WE ARE PLANNING A WHOLE WEDDING!

Our friends Andre and Kiera are getting baptized on Saturday! But before that, they have to be married. And the ward is coming all together to make this happen! The relief society is bringing pot luck dishes for a reception afterwards. One of our members is doing up little bouquets and decorations. Everything is working and it's a whirlwind for everyone but it's just so so good! On top of this wedding/bap combo we have another baptism on Friday and zone conference on Thursday! We are go go go this week and it's just actually insane! But God is a God of miracles, and he hasn't ceased to provide!

This is the Lord's work, I'm just a little part of it. And I'll thank God every day that I get to be a part of it because while I am just a little part of His great work, His great work is a huge part of me. The Lord's hand has changed me in unimaginable ways. This morning I was rereading through the past Weekly emails and it was so cool to see record of the growth I've experienced in the 8 months I've been on my mission. Additionally, I was reminded that the Lord's hand had always been in the work I am doing as a representative of Jesus Christ.

This past month has been an extension to that. For every single friend we are working with right now that is progressing, we were quite literally plopped in the middle of their journey. Our friend, Andre has been meeting with missionaries for a year, and now him and his soon to be wife are ready to be baptized. Our friend, Noel came to church with his member friend Roger. Sammi, was invited to church a year ago, ignored the invitation and then walked in randomly 3 weeks ago and is getting baptized this Friday!

 The Lord looked at Mississauga and said "it is time" and promptly scooped sister Waldron and I up from wherever we were and plopped us down in the middle of it all, and has been playing checkers with us ever since. You know when the pieces all line up perfectly and you can jump three checkers in a row? That is the point of the game that God has brought us in for. I think for a long time the pieces have been sitting stagnant waiting for that one perfect move to be made at the right time. And now that it has been made the game is fast paced and exciting. There is no other explanation as to how we have been going as fast as we have been other than that the lord has been carrying us and all His other children in His hand all along.

Focusing on Jesus Christ is the secret to success. Because miraculously, somehow, everything fits into place when my head is constantly lifted up to Him. I've heard a lot lately in the scriptures, in conference talks, preach my gospel, podcasts, church meetings, quite literally everywhere, over and over again to lift your head and be of good cheer, awake and arise, cast your eyes up, etc. Pretty much anyway you can think of to be invited to focus on the Savior, I've read, written or listened to in the last week or so. 

It has been the thing that I think God wants me to remember the most right now. God knows my mind is going really fast, He knows I'm always thinking about the things that need to get done, and He knows that much of the time I need subtle reminders that I mustn't look beyond the mark (the mark being Jesus Christ), but rather lift my eyes and stare directly at it. And I'm so grateful for those reminders. Because when I receive those reminders and breathe, look up, arise and awake and focus on Christ I am reminded that He is truly all around.

 He's with me in the car driving to lessons, He's with me leaving that lesson that we got bashed at, He's with me while I'm talking to God's children that I've never met, he's with me when I'm trying to remember who to text as I write names on sticky notes, He's with me when I'm calling people previously found that we're trying to teach, He's with me when I'm caught up in my head overanalyzing that one interaction I had in the street with that one person that I could've said something different to. He's in every single little thing. His grace lifts me, awakens me, and helps me arise higher than I could ever lift my self.

So yall, this week I invite you to awake and arise, lift your head and eyes, and focus in Jesus Christ, and watch everything else fit into place. I love yall many bunches, go give them Heaven!

Love,

Sister Court

Weekly Fridge Phrases!!!

♡Jesus is not lost! He's alive! -Sister Glena Anderson

♡God picks the Imperfect person for the perfect task -our really cool friend Jonathan 

♡be confident in the JOY you have! -sister Waldron

July 19 - Welcome to the Weekly Season 6 Ep. 1: Flashback! Breath and Commit to the Moment

Hello! Hello!

It's been a good, but long week. The Mandarin sisters are gone & suddenly we have so many more people to teach that we've never met and are trying to get ahold of. Which is so exciting! But we don't speak mandarin, not even a little. So this is a fun little spelunking trip. (Because we're exploring something we've never done before, and it feels like it's fun, but also maybe a little crazy at the same time. Anywho....)

We have 4 friends preparing to be baptized and we are so excited for them to make that first promise with God! Kiera and Andre are well on their way! Our friend Noel scooters to church because he wants to find his own way there. And our friend Sammi, well he is just fantastic! He comes to every lesson with a specific question he wants answered. And his story is just miraculous. God can do his own work, he has shown that time and time again.

I see God and Jesus Christ everyday. I see their arms in the lives of the people we are teaching everyday. I feel their love for the people we are teaching everyday. And it makes me want our friends to have that everyday, down to the second. God & Jesus Christ are in the details of the details of their lives. 

But you know what?

 Sometimes I think, as a missionary I forget that God and Jesus Christ are in the details of the details of our own lives. I know that this week I did. 

This list making sister has been a little scattered the last week. I fell back into living by the list and less by the Lord. And I have felt the difference. I am focused too much on finding time to do all the things for all the friends, & forgetting that God's got it. He knows we can't do it ourselves. That's why He's there. 

In my studies this week I read an article titled Balancing What Does Matter Most (linked below) And was reminded that true balance is made possible when 100% of our focus is on our relationship with Jesus Christ. This means we need to spend intentional time with Him & our Father in Heaven, and need to commit to each moment. 

I then pondered how I can commit to the moment, and read the talk Focus on Jesus Christ as well as studied the word sincerity. I read Eph 6:24 & that talk, & came to the conclusion that we need to leave space for God's grace in our every moment. We can commit to the moment by trusting in God's grace, which is Jesus Christ. This means ALWAYS trying to learn & ALWAYS moving forward with sincere & intentional focus on Jesus Christ. 

As I've studied for the people we are teaching, I've learned more for myself than I have for them. From the talk The Imperfect Harvest, which I studied for our friend Andre, I was reminded that "our best is good enough & the grace of a loving savior will make up the difference in ways we can't imagine." That is the covenant we make with God when we are baptized, to ALWAYS remember Him so that we can ALWAYS have his spirit to be with us, and if he didn't keep that promise, He wouldn't be God.

So if I may, i'll flashback to season 2 ep 2 of this adventure.... we need to breath. Breath and be intentional, breath and trust, breath and focus of Christ, breath and let it go into God's hands. 

I want to invite all yall beautiful people to focus on Jesus Christ! I know that he is he answer to everything. Focus on Christ and go give them Heaven!

Love,

Sister Court 

Here are the Weekly fridge phrases!!

♡"compare myself more to Jesus Christ than I do to others" -a good friend 

♡what you know is less important than what you do with what you know. 

♡"rely on God to get me ------------------------------------------------------->there" -elder Ackerman 

♡"the Lord's work will only work if we all do it together" -Bryan from sauga ward

The things I studies this week! 10/10 recommend!

Balancing What Does Matter Most

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ya-weekly/2023/05/balancing-what-does-matter-most?lang=eng

Focus on Jesus Christ

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/32camargo?lang=eng

The Imperfect Harvest

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/04/54stanfill?lang=eng

July 13- Welcome to the Weekly Season 5 Ep. 6 Six More in the Saug, True Friends, and Big Loves 💗

Hello! Hello!

It's transfer week! This sister is staying in Mississauga with sister Waldron to finish training her! Big happy face😊. But sadly, the mandarin sisters we live with, sister Bailey and Crews, are both leaving. And no other mandarin sisters are coming in. Big sad face 😞. Sister Bailey finishes her mission and goes home, and sister crews will be training a new missionary! It has been a blessing to live with these sisters the last 4 weeks! Sister Bailey and I have actually served around eachother my whole mission except for 6 weeks. I love her so much! She has been a constant for me, someone so humble and meek. 

Friend update! Noel is still excited for his baptism! We had a really great lesson with him and a Spanish member from our ward. Such a blessing because Noel doesn't speak a lot of English. After a long week of ups and downs with their 1 year old daughters health, Andre and Kiera are doing good! Pray for them tho because Satan is working so hard on that beautiful family!

We did so much teaching this past week! And finding, and dropping. It was kind of like a factory cycle. Except this factory produces unique & beautiful & individual human beings who have each been gifted with the light of Christ. And oh what a joy it is to meet them and talk to them! 

In my studies this past week I've been learning how we can become friends, true friends to people we meet that we know and understand very little about. I read a really amazing talk from Elder Eyring titled True Friends. He said that for us to be a friend to someone, "all it takes is to feel something of what they feel, and something of what the Savior feels for them." I really love that! Our experiences will rarely parallel theirs. We will never understand them to a perfect capacity. BUT Jesus Christ is the PERFECT friend and he is prepared to help us be a friend who understands even the people we have just met. 

We all have the light of Christ, that's what connects us all together. That's the piece that when shared, helps us understand one another, helps us truly love one another, and helps us see each other as brothers and sisters. That's charity! I have such a strong testimony of charity! That's the message that i am sharing! The Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the biggest message of love that has come to this Earth with the exception of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The Restoration is for ALL!

 This message that brings back the fullness of truth, that affirms and testifies of God's love for His children, is world wide and universal. It applies to all who lived in Joseph Smith's time, all who lived in darkness before his time, and all who lived and will live after his time. This is the message that helps us understand one another because its a message that professes Gods love for each of His children. When we understand that universal and undeniable truth, I believe with my whole soul that we can begin to understand eachother!

I want to invite all ya'll, my wonderful friends to be a true friend to one person every day. Take a minute to try and understand something of what they feel. Take a minute to see them as a brother or sister, a child of God. People need love, people need Jesus, and people need you!

Hope yall have a great week! Go give em Heaven!

Love,

Sister Court

The Weekly fridge phrases!!

♡"the key element in my life is Jesus Christ, not me." -Sister Bailey

♡"I'm not just a creation. I'm not just a human, I'm a daughter of God." -sister Bailey 

♡"the gospel of Jesus Christ is the train that gets us from where we are to where we can be!" -sister Bailey 

(I'm really going to miss Sister Bailey!)

July 5- Welcome to the Weekly Season 5 Ep. 5 Hiking Up Mt. Rowe, and a Line Up at the Watering Hole

 Hello! Hello!

While I was in KW my mission president said a lot that we as a mission were hesitating to invite friends to be baptized. And we needed to invite sooner. And I remember feeling that that was true, and feeling like we needed to invite more people to be baptized, but frustrated at the same time because we didn't have people to invite to be baptized. And I really wanted to find the people to invite because I have such a strong desire to help my brothers and sisters live in the celestial kingdom.

 My prayers were focused on that! I prayed everyday to have opportunities to act on my mission president's council and to help me know what we needed to do and where we needed to go. Well the answer to all of those prayers was to be transferred to Mississauga. We have so many friends, we find so many lovely humans! And I'm sorry to say that the first 1.5 weeks I was a tad timid about bringing up baptism, our lessons weren't going any where. So this last week Sis Waldron and I looked at all our friends and set a goal to be lovingly bold, and invite 4 tp be baptized and accept the love and blessings that come from being closer to Jesus Christ into their lives.

 And would you believe it! We invited our friend Ally to be baptized, our friend Ime accepted the invitation for November, after she has recovered from her upcoming surgery, and our friends Andre and Kiera accepted the invitation for July 29 all on the same day, and then just yesterday we had an amazing lesson with our friend Noel who we found through a recent covert and he accepted a baptism date for August 5! 

It's almost like if you invite someone to do something they have the option to do it, crazy. But all joshing aside, The spirit that accompanies any invitation when it's extended with love is the kind of spirit that propels the individual forward. The spirit propels me forward and makes me feel like I have the energy climb 15 mountains. And oh my lanta how beautiful those spiritual mountaintops are! 

In my studies this week I studied the power of the spirit in conversion. And it occurred to me that there are multiple switch backs that have to be taken to help our friends get to the waters of baptism and continue to have their own mountain top moments. (Picture below) 

Sister Waldron and I taught an instruction about this to some other missionaries we serve around and used Mt Rowe, a mountain in Waterton, as our analogy. 

We can't stand at the top and call our friends to meet us there at the waters edge, (or whatever your invitation is) we have to go to them! Walk the switchbacks with them, show them that Christ is walking with them too. Sometimes you may have to repeat the switchbacks but the beautiful thing is that as long as they are taking a switch back they are progressing upwards even if it doesn't seem like it. When we walk with them we can help them see their progress and in turn, our testimonies and conversions are also strengthened. It's a spiritual win win win all around! 

I invite you all to invite the people you love to do something that will benefit their life! Maybe that's inviting them to pray, read the Bible or book of Mormon, come to church, or maybe it's an invite to implement a new habit. But when you extend that invitation, help them accomplish it! Walk the journey with them. I promise you it's a blessing to them and to you, watch the hand of the Lord in their life and watch it more in your's!

I love you all many bunches! Go give all the beautiful souls heaven!

Love, 

Sister Court 

Weekly fridge phrases! These are gooders!

♡don't get lulled into carnal security -2 Nephi 28:21

♡lift up your heads -literally everywhere in the bom

♡live less by the list and more by the Lord 

♡Jesus Christ is the infinity and beyond

June 28- Welcome to the Weekly Season 5 Ep. 4: Teaching 2×2, pretty sure Noah's ark didn't leak though:/

Hello! Hello!

We have been teaching so much! It is the best! Sis Waldron is an inspiration. She teaches me as shes teaching our friends. I've been setting goals to improve my teaching, and right now i have three that i'm actively working on. 

1. Promising blessings throughout the lesson, 

2. Being Bold when bringing up baptism, 

3. Using the scriptures that flow into my head as our friends are sharing. 

God fulfills His promises! We taught a lesson to our friend Mansor who is on date for July 16. He had been ghosting the elders who passed him to us because he's been busy finding work as he's new to Canada. In this lesson I promised him that if he made learning about God & progressing towards baptism his #1 priority, the other aspects in his life would fall into place. Guess what! Not even an hour after he confirmed his next appointment with us, he had a job interview. That promise came from God! GOD FULFILLS HIS PROMISES & HIS ARM IS STRETCHED OUT ALL THE DAY LONG! 

In a lesson with our now friend that we taught with another set of sisters, Jonathan we were having a very meaningful conversation about the Holy ghost guiding us to know our purpose in life. And I felt my heart start going fast b/c he needed to be invited to be baptized. Sis Waldron read my mind because we looked at each other and, in unison nodded. So the invitation was extended & when our friend said maybe, the other sisters we were teaching with backed up the invitation i extended. He is now praying for a date that we will soon be following up on. BE BOLD AND LOVING!

 In preparation for a friend who doesn't speak very good English I was studying how we can be more simple teachers & I read 3 Nephi 9:15 which so simply testifies who Jesus christ is & I felt the same witness I've recieved so many times before. That Jesus is my savior. That's how we can teach simpler. We can use the Book fo Mormon. AND IN HIS FIRST LANGUAGE because the book of mormon has been translated into it! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is plain and precious. There is no better place to find evidence that Jesus christ is the son of God than from the word of God & the spirit of God. 

In other news.... our apartment has flooded not once but twice this last week. Not a great vibe but a vibe none the less. It's made for a couple fun adventures and very wet feet🙃. 

In other other news.... in my studies this week I read a talk from our Prophets wife, Wendy Nelson titled "becoming the person you were born to be" and she extended a 30 day invitation to pray to God in gratitude for the scriptures and ask the question we most need answered that day, flip open your scriptures and read hntil you find an answer, and watch it change your life. 

So I have been doing that the last couple days and the Book of Mormon can answer EVERY SINGLE QUESTION! I promise you that! The Book of Mormon coupled with the spirit is the best way to find the answers to the questions of your soul no matter how simple or complicated. I invite you to this 30 day invitation. Pray and open your scriptures, the Bible or the Book of Mormon and read. 

Send me your experiences because I'd love to hear them! And learn from yall! 

Have a great week! And go give em Heaven!

Love,

Sister Court

Weekly fridge phrases: 

♡"let Jesus christ be your liahona." -sister Stacey

♡"Encourage your friends to verb"

-sister Waldron on wanting to help our friends take action

June 21- Welcome to the Weekly Season 5 Ep 3: Zoram and the Heavensent ET

Hello! Hello!

Welp! We're in the good ol' GTA, in the same zone and district I started my mission in. Dropping sis sattler off at the airport was a very big sad. Made my heart frown a lil. But my heart is so smiley that shes doing ehat God needs her to be doing! Im so proud of her. 

I've only been here 4 days but Mississauga is a fun time! My lil greenie, Sister Waldron is absolutely fantabulous!  She was previously in a trio being trained. She was so cute the other night after we had turned off the lights she says, "thanks for being the best third mom!" Oh my lanta we are having a lot of fun together. I am so excited for the next 4 weeks of this transfer! 

I studied relying on the spirit a lot this week. As part of my studies I read Carl B. Cook's talk "Just Keep Going With Faith" from this last general conference. And something that stuck out to me this was this quote "undo the plans and follow the spirit". 

When Sis Sattler and I got the call to let us know what was happening with our area, I was immediately overwhelmed. I just assumed that I would stay in Waterloo. That was my plan, to stay and keep building the area, to keep teaching our friends, and find more. 

And then I read this talk and remembered that God's plan is always better than the one I prepare for & think is so perfect. I began thinking about the friends we had, and how beneficial it would be for some of them to have elders, or to be taught by the other sisters in another congregation. We had lessons with each of our friends and were able to introduce them to the new missionaries that would be teaching them. Each one was so spiritual and 110% confirmed to me that the changes happening were what needed to happen for Gods work to keep moving forward in His time. 

Side note: my friend Keyrthi who I mentioned in my last email is preparing for baptism on July 7!! Oh my lanta that lesson was the most tender and spiritual experience! I am so happy and excited for her!

The other thing that was overwhelming to me was that I would be whitewashing again (actually reopening the area) and training a baby missionary again. This was a little bit of a scary thought to me. The last time I trained it was so good, I learned A LOT, but it was hard. I felt like Zoram (go read the talk linked at the end OR even better read the story in the book of mormon itself in 1 Nephi chapter 4, also linked at the end!) and initially felt like running. But Nephi snatched Zoram and God snatched me and if He didn't, my mission president certainly would've. 

I was reminded that we can't run from opportunities to increase our faith & recieve love from Heavenly Father, even if those opportunities seem hard and scary. As I continued my studies this week, I was struck by this thought from preach my gospel, "your confidence and faith should be in Christ, not in yourself." And as I looked back at the transfer we had I saw just how true and crucial that statement was.

Sometimes you don't have a whole lot to be confident in. Maybe you're sick, tired, and the ride is a rollercoaster. But when you have confidence in christ and you're filled with His love, the work keeps going and everything that needs to be done will get done. I know this! And I have confidence in God to take perfect care of everyone in Waterloo. 

And now I'm here in Mississauga and it couldn't be a more heavensent ET (emergency transfer). With confidence and faith in christ, the work is going to roll forward. And there is so much work to do here! I'm excited to be back in the GTA. the quieter pace of Waterloo was a needed breather but I love being busy. I am so grateful to be here! And I am so excited to be training again, to use all the things I've learned the last 2 transfers and be the vessel Christ needs me to be for the people here, and for my companion. 

I am so grateful for Sister Waldron! She is fabulous and has such a desire to learn and be obedient and to be pushed. I love her so much! 

So I guess long story short is this.... (here are your spark notes Jace) God is good, his plan is always better, with confidence in that plan, all will work out. He grants us opportunities to learn and then gives us more when we're ready to learn more and when it's expedient for us to learn more. 

Love you all many bunches! Go give them Heaven!

Love, 

Sister Court 

I guess it's about time for the Weekly fridge phrases:

♡"If you're giving first class effort it better be going to a first class cause" -elder Cronin 

♡"he worked in me to do his will"

♡"the spirit doesn't make me speak better, it helps me say what needs to be said." -elder palmer

June 14- Welcome to the Weekly Season 5 Ep. 2 ET is the Game Mississauga is the Name

 Hello! Hello! 

Soo.... Sister Sattler heads home for a service mission in like 3 days..... and I....

Leave the Loo at the same time. We got a call on Saturday letting us know what on earth is happening and found out I was getting Emergency Transferred (ET) out. This area isn't closing per say but it is being given to the elders in Kitchener 2nd ward, so they will be double covering. I'm headed back to Brampton Zone, (which is the zone I was born into) to re-open the Mississauga area and train another baby missionary! I'm excited! But I'm sad, my heart loves all the people. But there are more people to love! And I am so excited to love them!

We were able to get in contact with our friend Puja! And we have been meeting with her. Unfortunately she doesn't feel the need to be baptized anymore but wants to keep learning about Jesus Christ, because he adds so much to her culture. She said she noticed the difference in her life when she was meeting with us vs. When she wasn't. I think now that she's meeting with missionaries again, and hopefully will start coming to church, she'll feel that spirit again and remember her desire to be baptized. We have a lesson with her this week with the K2 elders so she can get to know them before sis Sattler and I leave. 

 Our friend Keyrthi has a brother in Salt Lake who is a member and family in India who are all members, and told her that if she found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints when she moved to Canada, she would find family. The sister missionaries in Temple Square called us b/c her brother told them about his sister in Waterloo. We've met with her twice, both lessons her brother in India, Kiran, FaceTimed in. It's been amazing because he speaks their mother tongue so when there's a concept Keyrthi doesn't understand in English he's able to explain it in Telugu and bear testimony of it. It's the most beautiful thing. She has been to church twice and loves it. She's hesitant to accept a baptism date because she feels she doesn't know enough. But her brother said he would read the Book of Mormon with her and help her understand more so that she can understand what baptism really is. At church on Sunday we told her we were leaving and she was so sad and nervous. We are passing her to the YSA sisters and assured Keyrthi that she was going to love them and make so many friends. We have a lesson all together this week to help make that transition smoother. 

Joseph, although not ready for a baptismal date has made so much progress the last 8 weeks. To most people maybe it doesn't look like that, but to me he has. I can feel him feeling the spirit more in his life. He is so mindful of the things we teach him. And every lesson we have is planned not just by sis Sattler and I but Joseph too. We set goals with him about what he wants to learn more about and send him talks and scriptures to read before hand. And when e meet its always so spirit led. I think elders will be amazing for him. 

I spoke in sacrament meeting on Sunday and as I was writing my talk I thought "this is going to be great! A talk I don't cry while giving." Ha! Then we found out I was also leaving....

As I was closing my talk I felt an overwhelming outpouring of love for the people in the congregation, including Keyrthi and Joseph, and the members sitting on the stand. It was the craziest, most magical experience....And yes, I indeed did cry. The spirit I felt, and I pray everyone else felt, was just so strong. These people have been home to me. We tell our friends all the time that they will find a home and a family in the church. That promise extends to everyone. It takes all kinds and all quirks to make a ward family. I am just so grateful that I get to experience so many even just for a short while. 

I have a testimony that the Lord's got it, He knows. His timing is perfect in my life and in the lives of our friends. I know our friends and the kw ward is in God's hands. He won't drop them. In the moments that my brain moves a million miles a minute I pause to remember to breathe and just be, breathe and trust, breathe. In my personal study I was reminded of one of my favorite scriptures 

Job 12:9-10 

Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this? In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

God is the breath of life, He has each and every one of us in His hand. His grace will catch us when we fall. 

I love you all many bunches! Go give them Heaven! 

Love,

Sister Court 

Here are the Weekly fridge phrases:

♡Who are you not to be who you are? -Sister whitsitt

♡We are living in a time of high adventure 

-marens institute notes 

♡when temptation knocks at the door, let Jesus answer. -bumper sticker

♡we're all jenk and weird -elder Remillard