" I wish there was a way to know you were in the good old days before you've actually left them..."

22 Oct 2018

Ripley's Aquarium

HEY!
Well this week started out a bit rough...
So every preparation day we always go get groceries with the elders. E. Heck, E. Lau, E. McFarland, and E. Palmer. We all ride into the van because it's easier than taking the bus to go back and forth every time. But this transfer we were all super tight and wow it has really changed my life. On Monday we were riding to drop off groceries, and the Elders were like "Oh wait we have to grab Elder Palmer's stuff, and we were like; "We don't need to go with you, just drop us off at the church so we can email. But wait what's going on?"
 Elder McFarlands like; "I'm getting transferred to Brantford for the week" and Elder Palmer is going to Churchville for the day." And I was like that doesn't make sense what is really going on! Elder McFarland is the new assistant to the president.
Wow, I am a wimp when people start to leave.
I really know that God places people in our lives when we really need them. One thing that i have really learned this transfer is that even within 5 weeks i have learned so much from the people around me and I have felt the love of my savior more than ever. Missions are way harder than I could have ever imagined and in so many different ways than I thought possible. But you make the most meaningful memories and have so many experiences that shape your life.

District meeting

Transfers end and new people come into your life that teach you new things. I honestly wish this transfer would never end. I have witnessed so many miracles and I know the Joy that comes from the gospel and how much it can change lives.

We were at an MLC meeting a few weeks ago and the Assistants gave an instruction on connection.
There are two parts content and connection
Content: what is happening, what is said.
Connection: the response to the content.
What creates connection?
Who is in your life that you connect with?
What developed that connection?
How have you continually strengthened that?
" Christ felt all the content so He can connect with us."
God works through others, he sends us people to uplift and guide us and in a sense call us to repentance. We act on the advice they give us. We create a deeper love and connection. It's the same with the Savior. He guides us, He helps us repent and we build that bond with Him.

the #STANGGANG FAMILY

This week has been so great, and so hard.
I am so blessed to have the people In my life that I do.

We had Stake conference this weekend. It was really good. The whole Saturday night session was on ministering and how we can be more of an example of Christ in our every day lives. How we can do more. It was really cool because after church Sunday, we were standing and talking to members. I have been pretty stressed for this transfer call, because I really dont want to leave. Harman was like;  "Sister St. Onge you look stressed, do you want a blessing."
 I was like;  "Uh yes, that would actually be really great!"
 MIRACLES. It made the day a lot better. I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and I am so grateful for the power of God, that has been restored to the earth. I hope you all have an amazing week and tell those that you love. That you love them!

some of the best

So transfer news!  I am getting transferred to Mississauga with Sister Holly Clay! Should be a party! She is from Pocatello, Idaho and she was my STL in Hamilton for two transfers. We will be in a trio with Sister Shen for a week, and she is from Taiwan! I have never had a foreign comp. so should be fun :)

my new Companions Sis Shen and Sis Clay

Quote: "You can never leave footprints that last if you are always walking on tiptoe."

 - Leymah Gbowee

" She thinks your the chosen one Harry... I Am THE CHOSEN ONE."

15 Oct 2018

Awesome graffiti!

Hey everyone!
This has been one of the busiest weeks of my life!
We had 3 exchanges. After the second exchange this week I went to Bayview with Sister Morgan. She is from Salem, Oregon. I went back into Mandarin work, it was super fun! I learned a bit more this time, but it is still very limited haha!I can now say I am a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Would you like to come to English class? That is the extent of my Mandarin. Sister Morgan is cool, she has only been out two transfers, and she can have a pretty good conversation in Mandarin without missing a beat. So the gift of tongues is real! That was pretty cool to experience!

We were riding the bus and I met this lady from Turkey on the way to our apartment, and she was super nice, but I didn't get to talk to her for very long. An hour later we got back on the same bus, and she was headed home, but she saw me and we talked the whole way!She was like I dont think it's a coincidence that we are seeing each other again. Her 4 year old son has leukemia and is going through treatment. She is like;"Let me give you my number, I would love it if you could stop by! It was really amazing!

The next exchange was with Sister Aubin, and she is from France! We have had 3 of the same companions, but we have never served around each other, so that was pretty fun! So many miracles! It's interesting, I feel like my whole mission I have served around pretty much the same group of people. We kind of just slowly move around, and then there are some people that I have never met and just see randomly at meetings. There are so many new missionaries, It's' crazy, I feel like I don't know anyone anymore, since everyone is going home! It's so weird!

Yesterday we were all over the city, but there was a cool event happening at the church. They had Mark Twain come and speak, so that was cool. We got to help set up, but we actually had a lesson with Laurel. She is so cool. We also brought a member teaching with us, who is actually from Alberta! Shoutout to Kerryn from Okotoks! It went really well, and Laurel is really excited to get baptized!

Sunday was pretty great, Laurel cane to church, and she really loved it. After we went downtown to dinner with . She is really cool! She does special effects for movies, and she just finished a "Series of Unfortunate Events" so that's pretty cool. She had a Harry Potter themed dinner the night before, so we had pumpkin pasties and butter bear and deathly hallow chicken pot pies. I am blessed! Pretty great day!

It has been a really crazy week but we have really seen God's hand more and more. Also all the General Conference talks are already out! That was the fastest I have ever seen that happen, so crazy! They were all so amazing, and I would love to hear the things that you have learned, or that stuck out to you! I know God guides us through a Prophet and the Apostles today, and that ''He is anxiously waiting to reveal the secrets of the universe!"Love you all have an amazing week!

Quote: "Though you may feel that no one can understand the depth of your despair, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, understands"

Love Sister Leilani St. Onge

Turkeys falling out of the sky like wet cement...

9 Oct. 2018

CRAZY WEEK!

So many things happened, here is a short list just to name a few...

Zone Conference, Exchanges, Temple Trip, General Conference, English Class, General Conference. ( Which was AMAZING).

So this is going to be a long email...so much happened.
Monday was super crazy. We went to Costco for shopping and then emailed...by the time we were done we had a little bit more time...and we planned on doing something fun, but the Elders forgot to buy their bus passes for October..haha So we had to drive them to the station, so they could pick them up. Anyway, we had dinner with a member, Miraku from Japan. She gave us all this Japanese food and snacks. It was pretty good..but weird. I've been trying so many new foods lately!!
Tuesday was THE GREATEST! So Monday night we had the Hermanas stay the night at our apartment...which was a party of its own. Then Tuesday morning we picked up the Zone leaders, and drove us all to the Bayview chapel for Zone conference. It was SUCH A great conference!! President talked a lot about general conference and preparing. I'll give you some highlights of things I learned...
• "Men are that they might have joy" we are not promised that we WILL have joy...because honestly that's up to us! We have to choose the joy.
• "Do you think Christ was a pessimist??" -Sister Shields
• You cannot live your day (or life) in Babylon then hurry over to the city of Enoch when you need revelation. 

Last time I see Sis. Bird! She is going home!

These were some highlights...but my favourite part was the instruction given by the Assistants. They talked about the difference between sowing and reaping. Sowing is trying, and reaping is succeeding. So, when we involve the principle of faith....we must ask ourselves the question..."Do we have the faith to sow (try) or the faith to reap (succeed)? We learn about this in the scriptures. In 1 Nephi 3, after already having made the sacrifice of leaving Jerusalem and traveling in the wilderness, Nephi and his brothers are commanded to return back to Jerusalem to get the brass plates. In this story...we often give Laman and Lemuel grief for murmuring, but we have to acknowledge that they still tried! Laman and Lemuel had the faith to sow! They had faith in themselves, but believed in themselves as they were. They doubted they could actually retrieve the plates. The difference is that Nephi possessed the faith to reap! Nephi believed in Jesus Christ personally, and knew that-- with the help of the Lord-- he could accomplish all things. I could go on forever about what I learned but basically it made me ponder this question and I'll ask all of you...what do you need to change in your life (right now) in order to have more faith to succeed like Nephi?
Then all the missionaries going home this transfer bore their testimonies and I basically just cried through the entire thing...those are my favourite.

After zone conference we drove some missionaries home and grabbed some pizza for us and the Elders before English class. After English class we were able to have a lesson with a referral, Laurel. She met missionaries last year on the bus, gave them her phone number, but then just kind of blew them off and never met up. Recently she's been struggling with addictions and such and wanted to change her life. She prayed for the first time (ever) that she could be able to set into contact with missionaries-- remembering the sister she met over a year ago. The VERY NEXT DAY the sisters in Orangeville were going through their phone and texted her!!! She was then passed to us as a referral and we met up. During the lesson (we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ) she just soaked everything in!! When we started talking about baptism her eyes just lit up and she goes "ugh I want to feel that way. What do I need to do?" So she's getting baptized on October 27th!!  it was such a cool experience oh my goodness. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY. It's so cool, because teaching someone is such an amazing experience! Teaching isn't just passing along information...it's inviting someone to repent. It's helping them improve and come closer to God. That's what I love about teaching!
We met Laurel again on Wednesday! We taught the Plan of Salvation and she (once again) just soaked in all the information. She had good questions and seemed more open with us and excited to learn. She is amazing!! 

Trainee Sister Simonsen!

Friday we got to go to the TEMPLE!!! It was such a great session.  Every time I go to the temple, I just feel so lucky and so grateful. It was one of the more insightful times too and the spirit was so strong there. It really helped me prepare for General Conference!

My District at the temple

Saturday was crazy. Can I just say....I WAS RIGHT AND THIS IS CRAZY. literally. I feel like since I've come on my mission everything has just been going crazy. New Preach my Gospel, new mission rules, new prophet, new church schedule, new general conference schedule, new everything!! But it was so amazing to be able to receive some serious spiritual insight during those sessions. We watched all day with Karen () and the Don Mills Sisters + Christie North Hermanas. They are such a party, and we had so much fun! 

Conference with the Don Mills Sisters

Sunday we had an early morning meeting with the Stake Presidency (on conference Sunday right??) But it was good. We watched the first session of conference then exchanged with the Richmond Hill sisters in between sessions-- It wasn't ideal but we had to move them, because we got sick earlier this week. I went with Sister Cho, so that was pretty fun! She is from Korea!

Such an amazing week! I am so grateful for all the experiences I have had and learned throughout my mission! I hope you all have an amazing week! Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Sister St. Onge

quote: "As followers of Jesus Christ, flowing as one in this river of goodness, we will be able to provide "fresh water" of the gospel to a thirsty world." Ulissess Soares

Hermanas

IS LIFE REAL?

1 Oct 2018

Sis. Training Leaders

Hey Everyone!

    This week has been crazy busy, like a blur...

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Toronto West sisters. Sister Child came to Toronto West with me and it was really fun! We got on this bus on the way home, and the bus driver waited for us to cross the street (super nice). He was like;  "Sisters! What message are you going to share with me today.?"

It was really awesome! We talked about the Book of Mormon the whole bus ride, and he was super excited about it! Best bus contact ever!

Breakfast then Costco for pday

     Then we had the Oshawa sisters stay at our apartment on Wednesday night. We ride with the zone leaders in the van to MLC in the morning, and they called at 10:26. They were like; "Sisters can we talk to you and Sister St. Onge for a second." Elder McFarland likes it so all the zone leaders play basketball, before MLC in the morning, and I have never been able to go because I have been to far away. "Would you be willing to wake up a bit early, so that we can go? Also can you convince the other sisters." So we ended up getting up at 4am, so that we could go play basketball. We walked in the gym, and the elders were all like; "Sisters... whats going on?" It was pretty funny!

Also at MLC the first hour was pretty boring, so we had a water drinking contest with our table. Us and the zone leaders. I definitely lost, but in total we drank about 7 or 8 jugs of water...

After MLC I went on exchanges with Sister Madsen to Oshawa. Which was super fun. We did lots of service for a few different people. The first lady we went to go help, we were there to clean and re- organize her kitchen cupboards. There was so much mold.... I felt I needed to take a hygenic shower after that. So gross....

Fudao! It was super good you put all the ingredients in a boiling pot of soup and it cooks it soooooo good!

We have been crazy busy, but we have also met a lot of amazing people this week, and I am excited for the miracles that we see everyday! This week is going to be amazing! We have zone conference tomorrow, then exchanges with Richmond Hill Sisters, a temple trip and then General Conference! I am so excited for how spiritually uplifting this week will be, and to recieve so much revelation!

Pumpkin spice cookies

Sister Wehrli and I were talking about things that could be changed at general conf. and these are the two things we came up with...

1.) two hour church

2.) everyone serves a mission at 18

I don't know, we will see, should be good though! Also I'm looking forward to hearing the prophets voice, and the council that comes from Heavenly Father!!!!

 I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

I would love to hear the insights received from General conf!

Love Sister Leilani St. Onge

Quote: " A small amount of blatant disobedience blocks a mountain of revelation."

President Jeffery L. Shields ( best mission president ever!)

Bug eyes!

Elder Palmer what do you have?

lots of rain, look at my hair!