April Emails

April 2^nd

Hey Everyone, I'm  felling much better! Just so you all know right off the bat! We have been sick in bed for almost 8 days which is a life time as a missionary. We are all still a little sick but feeling much better. There were many really funny things that happened, and a lot of the Book of Mormon was read. One of the great blessings that happened from all of this is that we didn't get caught up really in all the celebration of the holiday, and ended up focusing on the spiritual aspect of the holiday! And WOW! My whole point of view has changed on Easter. For the first time I have come to understand what it’s all about. And really it should to be the biggest holiday that we have, because it’s the most important.

    On Sunday, it being the first full day that we were out of the house, was a blast!  I woke up and made everyone pudding. All my companion are now big fans of pudding. We then sat at the table and read the Easter story. The spirit was so strong and it was a great way to start the day.  We then sang in church two different times. I was great and it sounded even better considering that we were still sick. And were surprised by the visit of the Seventy from our area that came. He talked of the life of the savior and what that meant to him. I was great and I was over come by his testimony.  After we taught and had some really great lessons on the Saviors live. We then got to go to a great member in our wards home and celebrate Easter. It was awesome the set up an Easter egg hunt. We had a ham feast with some really great cheesy potatoes and then ended it with dying eggs. My companion Sister Swap was wearing my white dress with flowers on it and spilt the blue dye down the front of it. I was crying tears from laughing so hard. The blue dye all so all over her leg and she is now part Smruff. It was a great night and the best part is that the spirit was so strong. 

The testimony of Easter that I have gained this year will be a gift that I will have the rest of my life and a blessing that will benefit the future family, Tory and I will have! I will forever celebrate the Savior on this day. My mission has blessed me in more ways than I could ever say. Thank you Heavenly Father for this great gift. I hope that all of you will take another look at this holiday and find a way to center it around the savior just like everyday of our lives should be. 

 I love you all see you. Sister Cannaday

April 8^th

Today was great but sad. There is a Sister in the mission that is going home early. And they are taking away my Baby Sister Swapp. I'm so very very very sad. To tell you the truth I'm crying a little bit right now. Because I just found out.  

  

WOW! What a conference this time! It just blew me away. There were so many really great talks. So much great instruction. Please please heed the council! They are so on it. Also this week has been one of the busiest I have had on my mission. I taught more then ever before and talked with more people then ever before too. I love doing what the lord has in store.  I love you all so much. And it was so good to get out of the house. I love you all! Keep studying those talks. 

Sister Cannaday

April 15^th

Ok everyone my letter is going to be short just because we have run out of time today. Just know that my birthday was great!!!!  I got to spend the time with a lot of people that I love just like last year. The rest of the week was full of crazy teaching and full of the spirit. There is so much I would love to tell you but I have no time. I love you all keep reading, praying going to church. Sister Cannaday 

April 21^st

I may have sent most of my day hiking again :) There is just so many wonderful things to do here and everyone has been helping me see them all. The hike that we went on brought us to this view where all you could see were cascading mountains until they faded into a blue sea. It just took my breath away. Every time I go into the beautiful world that the Lord created for us I truly fell the love God has for us all. The spirit is so strong in those places as the weather is getting warmer get out there and enjoy it!!! I truly stand all amazed at the world he has given us. I also felt the same way as I watched a woman that I love so dearly dressed in white get baptized this Saturday. Being a missionary is the best because we get to be apart of these wonderful peoples lives. Oh how sweet the fruit. 

 I love you all Sister Cannaday :)

April 29^th

So once more I'm going on an adventure today. We are going to the beach! YEAH!!!!! I can't wait I love going even though we can’t get in the water. I do want to tell you all about this funny moment that I had this week teaching. We starter teaching a man this week who is so ready for this he even said so. I had this impression that we should invite him to come with our ward to the temple before we even started really teaching him. Crazy right? There is just so much to understand before you even understand why you can't go in. So we took full advantage of the car ride up there. Well as many of you know I get Car sick, this time I got really really carsick. He kept turning around when the spirit was strong and looking at us in the eye. That was not good! Luckily we got through the restoration before I got really sick. At one point I said "I'm getting really sick so you know. .... To tell the truth can we pull over at the next exit?...... NO can we pull over NOW!!!!!" as Tiffany the great driver that she is got all the way over in 30 sec. and I got out the door running. There was no time to waste and I through everything up! Right there on the side of the road. It was really funny! But I felt bad to leave that as a first impression on someone new that we were teaching. But it all worked out. We got back in the car, the spirit was there and we just kept on teaching. I love this work!!!!!! Everyone, the spirit is true and can change anyone’s heart and bring them to the waters a baptism. I love being a tool in his hands! 

See you soon love you all!!!

-Sister Cannaday 

Pictures of Sister Cannaday's Latest and Greatest Adventures

Photo #1

Photo #2
Yumm...
Need I say more? : ) 

We made this cake in a pot because we had no cake pans!
Surprisingly it worked out really well!

Silliness!

My district in San Jose!
We are so cheesy!

A couple weeks ago we went to the Redwood Forest!
It was so much fun!

Scary things come out of dark places!

Wow! Big trees!

Almost to the top!

My tree-beard! Get it?? hahaha
(I don't get it!) : ) 

"Look at me mom! I'm in a tree!"

Look at that view!

At the top!

The fog was so thick that we were socked!

Wow! Look at that sunrise!

We got to the top and we both were so tired!
Sister Livingston was ready to kill me for telling her that she could keep going!
At one point she said "I want to do un-christ like things to your right now!" 

In a cove we found with an Elder who was being silly!

My companion really liked taking pictures!
I told her this was the last one!
California rally is beautiful! 

Mission Peak round two!
This time we brought our whole zone!
What a good time!

Herman Green and Trojillo
My old roommates from Livermore!
We matched even when we didn't try!

We went to the Black Bear Dinner and ate so many pancakes I thought I was going to die! 

Me and Sister Swapp enjoying ice cream!

We took the bus back and forth from the beach!
It was a super crazy dive!
The bus driver had some real skills!
We were all sick when we got back!

At the beach!
The first thing I did was make a drip castle!
I LOVE the beach!

Scripture Power

I got this email from Julio Lachaga (a member from Jill's mission):

So the missionaries were at my house a few weeks ago, eating dinner, and they decided to sing for me and my brother for our lesson afterwords. We liked it so much we recorded it and wanted to share it with all of you. Here they are singing a primary song called "Scripture Power". It's a big file so I had to put it on Youtube but the video is unlisted so only people who have the link can view it. Feel free to send it to any friends or family you would like. And thanks so much for sharing your missionaries with us. They are a huge blessing to the Washington Square Branch and their service has blessed us tremendously. They are amazing! Thanks again, hope you like the video. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FWLgF4GH2Q&feature=youtu.be

If you click on the link you can see the video! It's a cute little video!

Thanks for sharing Julio!

Mar 12th, Mar 18th, Mar 27th

March 12th

Hey everyone! Things week were great! Really being a missionary is the best thing I have ever done so far in my life!

         This is a cool story that happened this week: There is a man in our ward that has been trying to come back to church but has something that he is trying to workout. We set an appointment with him and when we got there his family invited us in, but he wasn't home yet. We waited a few minutes and then he came home. We had a great lesson on the atonement and the spirit was so strong! We then got in the car and looked at our phone and he had left a voicemail saying that we couldn't meet that night. We text him and told him sorry, but he text us back and told us " It was prefect like god said, "No! You are going to meet with the missionaries if you like it or not!" It was what I needed and I'm glad :)" It really showed me that God knows what is best for us and that he will help us understand what that is no matter what.

         "Oh how great the plan of our God!" The atonement is real his love is there for us! Stay strong and those little things will help you the most. Read, pray, and write in a journal. As I have been reading the Book of Mormon lately there are so many times where they are commanded to write things down that would bless them and there families. We should all be keeping a sacred recorded so in times of weakness we can turn to the strength that God has already given us.  2 Nephi 25:23 "For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God." I hope you all have a great week and that everything is working out great. I love you All! 

Sister Cannaday

March 18^th

Hi everyone, This week has gone by so fast that It feel like it never stared. My email is going to be short so I can use that time to write on so pictures of my adventures I have been having lately. Love you all! Don't forget that the Lord is on your side. 

 Love, Sister Cannaday

(PICTURES COMING SOON TO BLOG!) 

March 27^th

Wow I have been so sick and still am! : (  We just made it out of our house to e-mail and then we are going back to bed. I just want all of you to know that I'm a live and still kicking even if it’s under uncovers. Keep going!

Talk to you next week.

Feb 18th, Feb 22th, March 4th

FEB 18th

HI everyone!

Wow I just read my e-mails. There was a lot of them this week! Thank you everyone I love hearing from you all.  

This week has been great and we have gotten so much great work done. The work in the ward is really picking up and it’s a good thing because we are getting two other sisters here this week. I will be training again and finishing Sister Livingston training at the same time this transfer is going to be crazy!!!!  I'm really not sure what’s is going to happen but there is so much work that can be done here that it's going to be so much fun! 

We hiked that same hike this morning that we did a few weeks ago. It's long but so worth it when you see the great view. 

These last few weeks people have been celebrating Tet, which is a Chinese New Years festival. It has been so fun to taste all the great food and see all the great activities.

Whenever I e-mail I always want to tell you these really cool spiritual experience but, they happen every day all day and to tell you the truth they feel just normal to have. So when I write nothing sticks out in my head Lol.... I know that is it such a great blessing and I thank God that I'm able to do this work everyday. Really I feel like this is what I'm meant to do! Missionary work is the best!!! Really!  

I love you all. Hope that everyone has a great week Love Sister Cannaday 

FEB 22nd 

Man, I have been so bad at writing long e-mail! But there has just been so much going on with my crazy mission.  I 'm now training two Sisters and the same time in a weird foursome.  My new companion is from Oregon and is super cute and a little on the shy, but we are braking her out of her shell and it wont take too long. I'm having so much fun right now with the work and with my “mini” companions. I really wish that I could stay here for so much longer even though I love you all.  I LOVE MISSIOARY WORK!

Well I had a problem with The computers today and I’m out of time, so just know that I love you ALL and I'm working really hared and I'm not going to stop until the moment they take off my badge. 

Sister Cannaday

MAR 4^th

Hey everyone this week was great we worked really hard so now we are going to play really hard. AT THE BEACH!  Got to go! Love you lots. Be good!

 Sister Cannaday.

Jan 28th Feb 4th and Feb 11th

Jan 28th

Hello everyone, I hope that everything is going well with you and with your families. I have had a great week! It has been crazy a full of everything that you could think of! AAAAAAaaaaa.....! Life is great! Sister Livingston and I have been having so much fun! We were told yesterday that we both are a great example of a real life Disney princess which we both took as a huge complement. We just really have had a great week spiritually. Man I love being a missionary! 

Wednesday was one of those days where nothing seemed to go right and you could tell that my greeny was starting to get a little down buy the end. Then on the way home we meant a man that wanted to meat with us and learn more. At that moment she learned that, that's what missionary work is all about, the one person that is waiting to hear what we have to share.  

So funny story on Thursday our branch president signed up for dinner and something came up and so he snuck us some money and told us to take ourselves out some where fun. So we went to this place called The Boiling Crab, it a place where you order your food and then they cover the table with paper and pore it right there in front of you like you are in the south and then you eat it all with your hands.  It was so much fun and really funny. When they brought the food out my companion picked up one of the shrimps with the funniest face and said, "It's head is still on! What do I do?" I picked a shrimp up and said, "You rip it off" then ripped off the head and started to pull the shell off. I will never forget her face it was so funny. After eating the first two very slowly, she was good to go. It was fun and super yummy! (Sorry Apryl it was a lot of meat :) Just so you no I have been eating less and less though.)  

The highlight of the week was last night. That morning we didn't know what to plan after dinner, so we wrote in a "?" and went about our Sunday. After dinner we decided to stop by some peoples homes that we didn't know yet. One name stuck out to us that life far way but we felt like we needed to go. We couldn't find his address but we found one for someone with the same last name. We decided to go check it out. When we got there a little boy answered the door jumped up and down and yelled yah! The missionaries then run in the other room and out came this huge man behind him. He told us that the person we were looking for wasn't home and to come back that he would love you see us. I thought to my self "we should leave a message", but as I thought that he told us that his wife was putting the kids to sleep, So I didn't want to bother them. We went back to out car and stared to drive away. We looked out the window and that huge man was in the street trying to flag us down. We made a big U-turn and went back. He told us " please will you share something with my family?" we said “Sure!” parked our car and run back. When we came inside the wife was sitting just sobbing. He explained that they had just moved in with their mom and had just been married. They had two kids and were working on getting sealed, but they were having a hard time and a really hard day. The Sister then looked up and said, “I was just praying when you came that God would let me know that it was going to be ok and that I was going to get better. You knocked only a few minutes after I had ended my prayer. The moment I heard your voice the spirit entered into my heart and I know God was there!  I was crying too much to ask you to stay." Wow I'm so glad that we were there! We gave a great lesson where the spirit was so strong that.... I can't put it into words! I'm so glad that we were willing to listen. THE BEST THING BY FAR ABOUT BEING A MISSIONARY, IS BEING A TOOL IN THE LORDS HANDS!!! 

Sister Cannaday

Feb 4th

Hi everyone we went on to a really cool hike this morning that took a lot of time! I just want you all to know that we are doing great!!! We are having fun and the Lord is blessing us for our obedience. Thank you for all your prayers! I feel them every day. YAY........ MISSION !!!! I love the Lord!  I love you all!  -Sister Cannaday.

Feb 11th

Hi everyone this week was great!  Sister Livingstone and I are living it up here. We worked so hard and we get the best numbers of my mission. : )  We are doing so much so fast some how our brains just can't remember all of it! Well it might just my brain but....! So this week has been all about teaching with the spirit!  All our lesson this week were so strong with the spirit that it almost knocked off my socks. : )   

Sorry that this letter is going to be short again we just had one of our investigators come bake from India and we just talked with him about his adventure. He ran into a bull and knock him self out, went to the dentist and they gave him the wrong shot and made his face swell up, and then he was playing on a swing over a river and just as his cousin told him that there was crocodiles in the water the rope broke and he fell in. It was really funny and even better in an accent. Man I love this work and can't wait for this next week I know that it is going to be even better. I'm out of time I love you all see you soon. Sister Cannaday 

Dec 31st, Jan 7th, Jan 14th, and Jan 21st

Dec 31st

Ok everyone; Things are going great here it was so nice to hear from my family and to talk with them. I wish there was a ton of stuff to tell you, but to tell you the truth the only thing that we did after Christmas was stay home. My companion Sister Craig has been sick. She has been sleeping so much it blows my mine. She was feeling better on Sunday, which was a really good thing. There aren't many people in our branch and most of them were gone home for Christmas. We were teaching Sunday school the third hour. It was a great opportunity to look at really what my parents have done for me. My mom had to except the gospel and my dad came back to the gospel. There are so many people that only come back half way or leave the gospel and neither of them have left it. Wow I’m so grateful that they stayed with the gospel and that they showed me this great path of happiness, Thank you so much for being the great ensamples that you have been to me. I love you all and hope that you had a great Christmas and thank you so much for the letters and prayers. I love you all so much. And thank you so much for the gifts you all rocked my socks this year.

-Sister Cannaday




Jan 7^th

Jenni!  Thank you so much for the E-mail that you sent it meant the world to me! I haven’t had any mail from anyone including the love of my life, so that email was like manna the pictures worked and it was grand! Your Baby are so CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!    

OK everyone; This week has been one of leaning to let go and let the Lord take the reins. Nothing never ever went as planned and at moments it left like everything just fell apart. That’s really the life of a missionary. We plan, we pray, and then the Lord changes it into what it needs to be. It's truly crazy how things workout in the Lords way. I feel like that might just be what the Lord wants me to learn from my mission. Is to do all that I can, but to let him take control. I hope this makes sense to everyone and that I'm not sounding crazy. I am crazy I just hope that I don't sound like it. 

So on Saturday I got to go back to Livermore again to see a dear Sister that I thaught get baptized. Wow! If you ever need a boost go to a baptism. I'm always ten feet off the ground after I go to one. There is no doubting the feelings that are there and the change in the person after. They are just oozing with happiness and light. Wow! It was so cool! I'm also going back again for two baptism next week. I'm so grateful that I get to go back and see these people I love so much make their first steps towards their Father in Heaven. I just feel so blessed to have been a part of Gods plan for these people.  Wow I love being part of missionary work. I'm so grateful that Troy and I listened to the sprit and understood that this was the plan God had for us, to go and serve his children. To leave those we love for a short time so others can be with the ones they love forever! I love you all. 

Sister Cannaday

Jan 14^th

This week was full of heart ache and happiness! So this week I found out that I will be training again, also that my two wonderful companions will be being transferred. Man! I love these girls and was hoping to have at least one more transfer with the two of them! We just get along too well, so it was time for us to part from one another. I will truly miss them! I also feel like I don't know this area very well yet but I know the Lord can make my weaknesses strengths I just hope he doesn't take his time on this one. : )

This week was also full of so much joy! I had the great opportunity to go to Livermore and see two of my dearest friends step in to the waters of baptism. Wow my heart was so full!!! I wish I could put in to words how it felt to see them in white and enter into the beautiful waters of baptism. I can't wait to see them next in the temple.  Wow this week just blow me away! 

 Ok so short funny story… One day we were leaving our apartment and I went to lock the door it’s one that you lock from the inside and I had already stepped outside and tried to just reach around with my arm to lock it well…I'm not sure how or why, but as I reach around I closed my eyes and smacked my head into the wall scraping my nose chin and forehead. I looked a little silly for a few days. Leave it to me right? Well I love you all so much! See you soon! 

Sister Cannaday 

Jan 21rd

   Hey everyone! Wow this week has been crazy and to tell you the truth it has gone by a little slow. Not slow in a bad way but in a way that there was just so much stuff that happened that we didn't really fall into the missionary flow of things until Friday. I'm going to give you a brief break down of last week. 

-Monday was crazy trying to get my companions packed and helping say goodbye to all the people that they love. It was really hard to see those two go! We weren’t together very long but I felt like my little sister were leaving me and going out in to the big bad world. oh.... how sad. 

-Tuesday morning we had our transfer meeting and had to help my companions load and unload the car, which was such a feat that I like I might start listing, car packing as one of my super powers. I'm not sure what was in their bags, but I think it might have been a body or two. After that I was with 3 other sisters that were waiting for their trainy to come on Thursday too. We really didn't stay with just one person but swapped around all the time trying to get as much done as possible in the four areas. 

-Wednesday was a blur until that night when I got to go with the Spanish sister and teach some Spanish lessons. It's crazy how the Lord can help you when you need it and I was able to help teach those lessons with her and understand almost all of it. The best part was the prompting of the spirit that I was given. He told me to say and do things that didn't always make sense to me like when I was a little lost in the conversation and as I listened to them I could help those that we were teaching. Crazy cool how the Lord will help us you if you are willing. 

-Thursday. I got to pick up my new companion. WOW this girl is great and is so much like me! We have been having fun since the moment we met! Her name is Sister Livingston. She is from American Fork Utah and knows the Allen’s, she is friends with Nicole. She is also a great teacher and I think I might need to learn more from her than she needs to learn from me. She is hard working and ready to serve the Lord. Man this time with her is going to be so much fun! Oh ... She also sings all the time and we sound great together. 

-Friday was back to the flow of things more and we just had a blast serving and teaching! 

I Really love being a missionary, it's the best thing I have done so far in my life. To anyone that is thinking about severing a mission DO IT!  If you and contemplating if you should go, YOU SHOULD! And if you and a missionary KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! The blessings are out there go get them.  I love you all hope you have a good week. 

 -Sister Cannaday