t2w4

Dearest Family :)

First of all, HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Second of all, this week has been a learning experience for me.

Our potential baptism fell through--he's just not quite ready. He's not ready yet, but he will be ready eventually. The thing he's trying to get around right now is getting his head to accept what his heart is saying is true. And that will just come with time. He wants to be able to answer yes to the baptismal questions with sureness. He's actually my miracle for the week. Let me tell you why...

We taught Victor Tuesday, and met again with him Thursday, trying to get as much in to prepare him for baptism as possible. The whole I week I was questioning the wisdom of trying to go so fast, but Hna. Camejo and I couldn't deny that we had felt that the 18th was his date so we surged forward with Hna. Ence, testifying to Victor that he needed to read and to pray, fasting for him, praying every day for him. Then came Saturday. We still had much to cover, so we did what we could and our district leader agreed to interview him. Victor wasn't sure yet, but we helped him see that he was feeling something, so he agreed to go through with the interview. When he went in with the district leader we were so nervous. Did we do it right? What was going to happen? I think we were all praying hard. Almost an hour later, they finally came back out. He didn't pass, but it had been a good discussion for him. They decided that he needed more time for him to be able to line up his head and heart because he still couldn't answer all of the first question with confidence. We don't know exactly why we felt that the 18th was his date except for this, that it strengthened Victor's desire to continue. It helped him clarify things a little, to see a little better what it would all mean for him and it helped us see where we need to go now to help prepare him. One thing he said after the interview stuck out to me, that he knew that he will become a member, just not yet. I don't know that we will be the ones who get to see him to baptism at this point. He'll be closing his shop soon so he will only be in Mississauga for a few months for a surgery, so we will probably transfer him to the Mississauga Elders, but we will still do our best to strengthen his faith in Christ and prepare him before he closes down. It's the torch the people should follow anyway, not the torch-bearers.

He's my miracle of the week because he still came to church yesterday. He still has the desire to learn more even after the "ordeal" we put him through on Saturday.

Unfortunately, no snow yet.

Yours,

Hna. Cottam

P.S. I'll probably try to call between one and five P.M. I'm allowed a 2 min. call the night before to set it up, so talk to you then! I can either use my phone card or you all can call me at a specified time.

pics!

Oh, I also wanted to tell you about the awesome zone conference we had last week! It was an all-day one with training, food, jeopardy on the missionary handbook and a Christmas Devotional! It was great fun and I got to see a lot of the other missionaries that I have met, like my trainer Hna. Brown :). Hna. Camejo and I got to sing with two of the other elders in the devotional. It was great.

Love ya'll!

hna. Cottam

Hermana Cottam

Left to Right: Hermana Cottam, Hermana Camejo, Hermana Ence

Left to Right: Hermana Cottam, Hermana Ence, Hermana Camejo

Left to Right: Hermana Cottam, Hermana Ence, Hermana Camejo

t2w3

Well, I've come down with a cold, but the work hasn't slowed :).

We have a prospect for baptism this coming week! His name is Victor. I think I told you some about him last week, but he has a baptismal date. He main road block right now is that he's studied some history, etc., so his head is saying one thing while his heart is beginning to feel another. He loves the people at church and enjoys our discussions. We still have a lot to teach him but he's coming along. We were able to have a member in our last lession which was a great help in answering some of Victor's questions.

We have also seen some of the fruit of our contacting. We had a family who was a bus contact attend church yesterday! We have an appointment set up with them for this coming week. The said that they enjoyed church. The husband especially I think is pretty receptive. He loved our discussion in sunday school about prayer and had some good insights like how after we pray we need to go out and work.  :) how true 

We were able to see one of our recent converts yesterday and Saturday who hasn't been coming to church because of work. He hurt his knee at work, so he was able to come to church yesterday! (the Lord works in mysterious ways :). Hna. Ence was great with him, showing him the index in the back of the scriptures and encouraging him to find a favorite scripture. His roommate Julio might start investigating the church, actually. He has been around the sisters because of Oscar, so maybe he's ready now.

Hna. Ence, our trainee, is improving. She is talking to more people and her loving desire to help others and get to know people is awesome.

So Jesse asked about the training program I've talked a little about so here's a short explanation: It's called the 12-week in-field orientation for new missionaries. The church has made a booklet with a schedule of what to study each week plus "check your progress" questionaires and a page for each on the 8 fundamentals of Preach My Gospel (also fairly new--helps us focus on what's most important for the investigators to do and feel, like church, prayer, the doctrine of Christ, etc.). The purpose is to prepare new missionaries faster so they can be more effective as missionaries sooner and so that they can train after they have gone through the training. We do a lot of role playing and watch segments from the Preach My Gospel dvd's, etc.

on another note, no snow here yet...:( but it's still pretty cold...I'm starting to get used to it though.

Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Hna. Cottam

t2w2

Hola familia!

Como estan?

So this week has been exciting with our new companion. Her name is Sis. Ence and she's from St. George, Ut! So she's not used to the cold. We had a little snow the day she arrived but other than that it's been cool but not too cold. It's been raining a lot too. So Hna. Ence is something of a combination of Hna. Camejo and I so we all get along pretty well. Actually, Hna. Camejo and she knew eachother in the MTC. She also knew me but I don't remember her very well, unfortunately. Well, now I know her :).

Anyway, and unfortunately our progressing investigators are not progressing anymore. We were so excited for them. We're not sure what happened, but we move on. We are still working with a woman named Elyse. She loves what we teach so far. It's just hard for her to get out to do anything because she has a very young baby who has been sick lately. Our first two lessons with her were actually in the hospital. The baby is getting better, but slowly.

Yesterday we were able to bring one of our other new investigators to church! His name is Victor and he runs a video store a few times a week near our house. He ended up staying the whole three hours! and we were able to get him a ride to the devotional last night so he came! He liked the people and all and he has a lot of questions. He has a good understanding of the bible and believes in God, he just doesn't believe in organized religion. (He hasn't found one to be the true church yet :)

I loved the devotional last night! And what's better is that Bro. Smith was playing in the orchestra :) I never got to see him playing while I was at the MTC so it was nice to see a familiar face. The talks were awesome. I loved the story of the Mansion. It brings a new light to how to lay up treasures in heaven.

I've got to go, but have a great week everyone! I know the Savior lives. This is His church. We have a prophet today who speaks His word.

Love,

Hna. Cottam

t2 w1!

Well, I made it through the first transfer...and Hna Camejo and I are staying together, but....We're training a new missionary!!!! How crazy is that?! We get her on Wednesday, so we'll see how it goes.

The work has really started to progress with Hna. Camejo. She is an OYMing nazi! She loves to talk to people! We now officially have 2 progressing investigators!!!!! AH!!!!!! It's so exciting. I love 'em! They are a married couple from Mexico. We met them at a bus stop Saturday night. And invited them to church. The wife said she'd come but the husband had to work. She gave us her number and we all got on the bus. Before we got off, the husband gave a card with both of their numbers on it. We later found out that the number she had originally given us was slightly wrong--she doesn't trust people. but the husband suggested that they give us the right numbers so they did (spirit in action right there:). the next morning we came to pick up Nancy and lo and behold her husband was coming along too! He had stayed home from work to come with us. Wow, What faith he is showing! Right after church we sat down with them for a few minutes and found out a little more about them, they told the story about the number and Nancy expressed her past desires to be baptized. We challenged them to a baptismal date on Christmas. and they excepted! Then we asked Alex to give the closing prayer. It was the first time he had ever prayed. Oh it was a sweet moment. I'm so excited for them! After that we went with them to the baptism the elders were having and the spirit there was so sweet. I'm so excited for these two and pray that they will continue to progress!

Oh, yeah, for Thanksgiving we had papoosas with our ward mission leader and his wife. They are good! but I did kind of miss the turkey and pies. Oh well. Thanksgiving here happened just before we came out so we in essence missed it. But Christmas is just around the corner and I know we won't miss that! 

I'm so excited for what lies ahead, for the chance to learn and grow with my fellow hermanas. 

Have a great week everyone. 

Yours,

Hna. Cottam

t1w6

Well....what a week, to say the least.

The week was going on as usual, though we had few appointments that went through. Then came Thursday. We had recieved a call from the assistants to the president. They talked to Hna. Brown for a while and they talked to me about the trainging program and how it differed from the MTC. They also asked how I liked one of the other sisters who had come out with me from the MTC. Well, I didn't think much of it. We then went to talk to a potential investigator. As we were telling him a little about the restoration, the phone rang again. Hna. Brown looked at it and said, I HAVE to take this. So we quickly said goodbye and she said it was the mission president. Okay, I thought. Now I knew something must be going on, but still wasn't sure. A little later the assistants called again and Hna. Brown handed the phone to me, saying, don't be scared. It's going to be okay. Wow. Okay, something definitely was going on. The assistant told me that they were doing an emergency transfer. Hna. Brown would leave the next morning to the neighboring area and the sister they'd asked me about earlier would become my new companion. ... ya. The transfer went off without a hitch.

So, my new companion's name is Hna. Camejo. She is full of life and fire. She talks to EVERYONE! She is just what we needed to jump start this area. She strives so hard to be obediant and to do all she can to forward the work. Thankfully she speaks Spanish fluently. As I said, we came from the MTC at the same time so we are now our own trainers--thankfully we have the new 12-week training program and the other missionaries in our district to guide us. What's funny is that we had talked about getting to work together. We just didn't expect it to be so soon.

We haven't gotten lost, yet. Of course, It has helped to have a map ;) 

Aside from the area benefitting, this transfer has greatly benefitted me.

The last few days have been very humbling. I can't lean on Hna. Brown, who had been in the area for 11 months, anymore, her knowledge of how to get around and where the best places to go are, etc. We have to rely totally on the Lord now, on His spirit and guidance. And as I have humbled myself, I have seen His hand. I am so grateful for this opportunity, for the trust the Lord has in us, even though we are super new still to the mission. It's incredible how He directs His work and how He places us in situations that will help us grow the most and become the type of missionary He wants to be.

This work will move forward. I can feel it. There are many miracles waiting just around the corner :)

The Lord is truly in control. It is His work. and I know that He will guide us to those who are prepared if we but listen and hearken to His Spirit, If we will keep our eyes peeled for them. "Open your mouth and spare not!" He said. Well, that's what we plan to do.

Have a wonderful week.

Yours,

Hna. Cottam

T1-W5

Dear family,

Wow, Time is flying by! A month already! and yet so slowly too :) This week felt extra long. Probably because of the many things that happened.

The highlights were that we had a leadership training on Thursday. All of those in the 12-week training program were invited to come as well. It was so good! We went to the Toronto Stake Center (one of the biggest meeting houses in the church, actually--has 3 or more floors!) and had a day full of meetings. We role-played and were fed by the good word. We also had an open forum on the training program--the good and bad of it. Well, we only came up with one or two bads :). The main one was the amount of time we spend in the apartment watching paint peel...With the training program we add an hour to our companionship study, Which if you include language study and personal study adds up to 4 hours just studying. But it is so worth it! The whole point, even though we may feel like we're wasting time now, is to get us up to speed faster for later. Go slow now, so we can go faster later! And I love everything I am learning from it. I'm so grateful to get to use it! It helps me know where to improve and how! And it helps us focus the training so I get the stuff I need to know to be effective.

Anyway, That night it got pretty down right cold for the next two days, but it warmed up again yesterday. No real snow yet, but I'm kind of glad for that since I don't have boots yet.

Friday, the sisters did an exchange. So I went with Sister Petty and Hna. Brown went with Sister Petty's companion, Sis. Woo. It was different doing English work for a day! But it was good. Sis. Petty is awesome! She is so friendly and upbeat with everyone. You can see that she loves everyone. We taught two lessons and did some door contacting. I've been waiting to work with her to let some of her cheerfulness rub off on me. And it did :). OYM's are a little easier now, because I just try to be happy and interested in the person.

Yesterday we had our first ward council with the new bishop. He is so missionary minded! The Elders who also serve in our ward got to meet with him earlier that day and discuss some things. We are really starting to focus on getting the members more involved. This last week in our studies, that was one of the topics, and I can see how having members more involved would help us in the work. Then the investigators (and new members!) would have someone else to also encourage them and to support them through these hard changes.

One of our investigators wants to be baptized!!! We don't have a date set, but he realized in the last lesson that baptism is key. I'm excited for him! I hope he keeps progressing. With him, it's kind of hard to tell where it's going to end up, but people can surprise you :)

have a great week!

Hna. Cottam