July 30, 2012

Hello everyone,

         This week has been great and one of the fastest I have ever had on my mission and they only seem to be just getting faster and faster.

         The 2nd of August will be my half way mark and I can't believe that it's already knocking at the door. Serving the Lord is so much fun! It really is the best thing I have ever done in my life and I’m so grateful that I have been given this chance. I really would be a missionary for life if we could take a nap every day. : )  Truly  this experience is such a great gift. I was told that a mission was a way to give back a little bit to God, once. This isn’t true at all! You get so much more out of your mission than you could ever give back and the harder you try to give the more you get. It's like tithing and fast offerings, when you give little God gives you a lot!

         We truly do have a heavenly Father that love us and knows us and who is just waiting to bless us if we will do our part and sometimes even if we don't. He will never leave you alone or without what you really need. He loves you and I feel the love that he has for you and for all the people that I have met on my mission. 

    He only gives us trials for our own good and who are we to think we know more than the God that created us? We shouldn’t question our Heavenly Father and the trials he gives us. The bishop in one of my wards taught third hour yesterday. He told us that the only way to make iron out of basic elements is to put them into a super nova or a sun. That means that the iron in us now at one time was in a sun. When we truly think of the greatness of the body that you have been given how could there not be a creator? And if he took all that time why would he leave us here on our own? Well he didn't he is with you and love's you just open up your eyes and see.

         I love you all and hope everything is going well please pray to that Father that would love to hear from you so badly and then open up your heart to hear the answer. "Man are that they might have joy " and most of the time we are the only ones in the way. SO .... MOVE!

Sister Cannaday

July 16th and 23rd

JULY 16TH

Hello Everyone!,

Ok so this week really started out bad! It was one of those “No Good Really Bad” weeks and there didn't seem to be any light at the end of the tunnel. My companion was giving me the silent treatment for some reason! I had no idea what I did and that meant the work was going nowhere even though I was doing everything I possibly could.

Then we had zone conference and everything changed, my mission President gave a talk on leaning to love those around you, including your companion, and looking for the good in what they are trying to do. He used this scripture reference:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt ^alove the Lord thy God with all thy ^bheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy ^cmind.

 38 This is the first and great ^acommandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt ^alove thy neighbour as thyself.

This is how people will know if they are a Disciples of Christ, if they have loved one another. It was like the talk was meant for us. My companion started to talk to me right away. The next day we had a great companionship inventory and she opened up to me for the first time and now everything is going great, missionary work and our companionship.

 I have learned 3 big things from this:        

1. HAVE COMPANIONSHIP INVETORY (If you are married you picked your companion talk with them on a weekly biases. Fix things early before the problem gets too big!)

2. Do everything in love. Love everyone around you. Love is a gift from God that grows bigger when you share it. Love is the greatest commandment of all.

3. I also learned that I needed to have more faith and most of all patience. I was reading preach my gospel and 1 thing all of us could learn more about is patience.

"Patience is the capacity to endure delay, trouble, opposition, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious. It is the ability to do God’s will and accept His timing. When you are patient, you hold up under pressure and are able to face adversity calmly and hopefully. Patience is related to hope and faith—you must wait for the Lord’s promised blessings to be fulfilled. You need patience in your everyday experiences and relationships, especially with your companion. You must be patient with al people, yourself included, as you work to overcome faults and weaknesses."

We can all trust more whether it is in missionary work or with our children. Just don't forget why we are here, to grow and become closer to the person God wants us to be.

I love you all! - Sister Cannaday

JULY 23RD

Hello Everyone,

It’s no surprise this week has been full of ups and downs, but both are blessing from God meant to make us stronger, and bring us joy. On the up side we had 3 investigators at church and on the down the youth speaker said some stuff that well.... we really don't believe. The lesson from this one is to always read your kids talks PLEASE! To tell the truth it was really funny, and made for a great lesson afterwards about how we are all still learning. 

This week Dads have really been stepping up to the plate. We have had two lessons this week were the fathers stepped up and told their children that he knew that they could do better, and it was done in so much love. It really made me think of my Father in Heaven and how he has to do this to us every now and then. We get content and lazy and he has to put something in our way to wake us up and help us grow. Heavenly Father never gives us more than we can handle he only gives us enough to grow. The humbling experiences make our hearts fertile so that we can grow just like a gardener gives plants sun and water.

Elder Scott talk about this in his talk for conference, “How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life.”

"For spirituality to grow stronger and more How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life available, it must be planted in a righteous environment. Haughtiness, pride, and conceit are like stony ground that will never produce spiritual fruit.

Humility is a fertile soil where spirituality grows and produces the fruit of inspiration to know what to do. It gives access to divine power to accomplish what must be done. An individual motivated by a desire for praise or recognition will not qualify to be taught by the Spirit. An individual who is arrogant or who lets his or her emotions influence decisions will not be powerfully led by the Spirit."

We all must keep going and not only “Endure To The End” by “Enjoy To The End.”

The Lord has really been answering our prayers as we act in faith. We have found two new investigators and they really seem open to learning. We also have been teaching better as a team and having fun. Other then that there really isn't much that has happened this week, just teaching, teaching, and more teaching every day. The days and weeks and mouths are all going way to fast now. I can believe that I'm almost half way! I really don't want to ever be done! I love this work so much.

I love you all and please, wake up every day, pray, and tell your Father in Heaven that you are willing to do anything he wants of you and then do it! This truly is the way to happiness. Sister Cannaday

July 1st and 9th 2012

July 1, 2012

Hello Everyone,

I feel like I haven't heard from any of you but Sam in a really long time. Thank you Sam! I know that part of it is my fault because I haven't been the best at writing everyone back!  I’m sorry for that! BUT I would really love to hear from all of you more! I really miss knowing what is going on with you!

Things here in Livermore are great! I really love the two wards that I'm working with. It’s weird because it feels a lot like Utah other than the fact that there are more people here that really don't like missionaries then there in Utah.

So this week was soso!  I could have gotten a lot more done, but everyone canceled on us multiple days even for dinner! It was really weird we only taught one or two people those days and those lessons were rock star lessons! The spirit being the star of course. The Lord cleared our day so that we could be where he needed us. He truly knows what we need to do; sometimes it's just hard to figure it out. We need to humble ourselves and realize that we really have to turn it over to the Lord. Everything to the Lord!

Ok everyone,  I have homework for you. Look up the talk "Be Ware Of Pride" It is such a good talk and will really help you feel the love the Lord has for you.

Funny story time! We were visiting some less actives that lived out in the country, we were walking back to the car, and it was dark!  You all know how much I love the dark! Well Sister Satini came up behind me and with her nails graded the back of my calf! I almost kick her in the head and did my little freak out thing, where I wave my hands and scream and the top of my lungs. Sister Satini was almost on the ground she was laughing so hard! The Dad and the family came running out with a gun which is even funnier because the only thing in “the wild” out there is squirrels.  I thought you might enjoy that story. : )

"For spirituality to grow stronger and more available, it must be planted in a righteous environment. Haughtiness, pride, and conceit are like stony ground that will never produce spiritual fruit.

“Humility is a fertile soil where spirituality grows and produces the fruit of inspiration to know what to do. It gives access to divine power to accomplish what must be done. An individual motivated by a desire for praise or recognition will not qualify to be taught by the Spirit. An individual who is arrogant or who lets his or her emotions influence decisions will not be powerfully led by the Spirit."

Don't just let the Lord have a hand in your life give it to him! I love you all! 

Stay strong, Sister Cannaday

July 9, 2012

Happy 4th of July,

This week has really been full of ups and downs. The 4th of July was a really great day we did a lot of serves and ended up having hamburgers for lunch and dinner with members! Over all it really was a great day full of fun! But... I really missed the people I love the most!  I MISS YOU MY DEAR FAMILY!  I'm super excited to get to come home and have a giant water fight!

Because everyone has been out of town missionary work has been really slow which is no good when you miss you family. I also eat something Thursday night that didn't not like my stomach at all so Friday I spent most of my day asleep on the bathroom floor! Not a fun day! It was a blessing that we didn't have to cancel on many people, but the best part was that I had all day to read my scriptures, ( well try to read, when I wasn't super nauseous)!  I have been reading in the New Testament, if you haven't read the New Testament in a while than you should! It just blows my mind how wonderful Christ is and how much we can learn from him. HE really is the greatest example that there is.

            We met a old couple recently and one of the things they told me was "I have never met a Mormon I didn't think was just the nicest person"  I almost jumped for joy. But that means that we need to keep that up we need to live what we learn and what we teach those around us because what if you were that "But one" that closed someones heart to the message of the truth Jesus said, 

7 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

 8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their ^amouth, and ^bhonoureth me with their lips; but their ^cheart is far from me.

 9 But in vain they do ^aworship me, teaching for ^bdoctrines the ^ccommandments of men.

 10 ¶And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand:

 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth ^adefileth a man; but that which cometh out of the ^bmouth, this defileth a man.

Don't let what you do be in vain truly be the example of a believer and those around you will see the happiness that it brings and wont that for themselves, but don't only do it so others can see but find the desired to do it because you love God.

I love you all and thank you for your pays I really need them! 

-Sister Cannaday

Beautiful Jillian!

Last day in Morgan Hill!

One of the sisters Jill baptized is from India so at church the Sunday after her baptism she dressed the missionaries up in beautiful native India dresses! Jill loved it! 

Isn't Jill so beautiful? I sure think so! : ) 

June 25, 2012

June 25, 2012

We have been working our little tails off, here in Livermore. We had a really cool experience on Saturday. When I opened my personal study with pray I asked something I had ever asked before. I asked, that I would be led to study what I would need that day. I ended up reading in Matthew (I’m going to start reading the New Testament again.) Well as we were driving from an appointment that canceled we saw some people moving so we slowed down and asked if they would like some help. They were really grateful and accepted right a way so we parked and got out in our dresses and started moving boxes. It was an elderly couple that didn't have any family so the realtor, her husband, and a friend volunteered to help move them. The Friend was a little skeptic of us at first and read our nametags. You could tell he was trying to see if we were Mormon. It said Christ so he was ok for a little bit. Later he stated asking questions. He was trying to find out more and trip me up at the same time. It was so much fun because everything he asked, or quoted I had read that morning and had a wonderful spirit guided answers and a great big smile on my face. At the end I was teaching him stuff that only we believe and you could see the spirit testify that what I was saying was true. I was led and prepared for that day and that man. At the beginning he was ready the shew us away and in the end he told us that we were heaven sent. They weren't ready to have the missionary teach them, but we taught them by just being missionaries.

Things are moving along in Livermore, but slowly. Sometimes that’s Heavenly Fathers way, little by little.

I love you all and hope that you can open your eyes to the miracles in your life. I know that they are all around you if you want to find them.  I love you all and hope that you will seek the path God wants for you. It really is the only way to real lasting happiness.

Sister Cannaday.

June 18, 2012

June 18, 2012

So this week was really hard well… more boring. It’s harder when you are bored. Everyone canceled on us this week and we haven't been able to get a hold of many of the people that we teach. So we went to work looking for new people to teach. We talked with everyone! It was a lot of fun and weird some times! I found out that when you are talking to people and they feel the sprit, if they don't know what it is, they will just start hitting on you. The light of Christ really dose make you look better. In the end we found two people for the elders to teach! :) Also goes to show you that we really do have something that those around us can see and they want in their lives. ; )

 We had a really cool experience yesterday at a member’s house for dinner. The Sister was from Japan and a convert; her mother was visiting her and has never showed any interest in the church. Well it was Sister Satinis turn to give the dinner thought and she whipped out the plan of salvation and testified so powerfully. Before we left we asked the mother if we could come back and teach her the rest of God’s plan for her and she was excited. It was really neat to see her heart soften and change. The daughter, Sister Ruben, was blown away that her mother even listened.  To add to the coolness Sister Satini was having a really hared time with her English and Brother Reuben had to translate it in to Japanese because the mother didn't speak any English at all. The spirit translates into every heart.

Lately We have been trying to listen to the spirit as much as we can and I have been guided to a lot of people that haven't been home! I wasn't really sure why this was until I was daydreaming in church yesterday and realized that the Lord is trying to see if I will really listen. If I'm really willing to do what he wants me to. This was one of those mind-blowing moments that just made my testimony grow so much. We can't always see why the Lord asks us to do something not even after we have done them. But we are not meant to know all that God knows in this life or understand why he has us do the things we do. I was then reminded of a talk I read that morning From A Mountain To Climb Talk. 

"One of the characteristics of trials in life is that they seem to make clocks slow down and then appear almost to stop. "There are reasons for that. Knowing those reasons may not give much comfort, but it can give you a feeling of patience. Those reasons come from this one fact: in Their perfect love for you, Heavenly Father and the Savior want you fitted to be with Them to live in families forever. Only those washed perfectly clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ can be there."

The Lord is preparing all of us for what he wants us to be, if we only let him we can become more then we could ever imagine.

I love you all you are in my prayers stay strong.

Sister Cannaday

p.s. A man just past me a note asking about Joseph Smith. How cool is that?

June 4th and 12th

June 4th

Yay! This week was great!  It started out on the wrong foot but ended strong. We also had a lot of fun. We really don't have very many people to teach right now, so that is pretty much all we are doing right now, finding finding finding, looking for those that are looking for the truth. Which is so much fun! We have found two or three new people that are really but no one like Nina yet.

So, last night Sister S. and I were walking back to our car after a lesson! We were parked about a block away from where we ended up and were late for out next appointment. We decided that we were going to race to the car. We were both wearing pencil skirts and found out very shortly that it’s very difficult to run in pencil skirts. We both tripped a little at first, but we kept going. We looked so silly running down the road like little penguins with giant bags on our backs. I was taking three steps for my normal ones. I now know how Jenni feels when she is trying to keep up with me. : )  (Love you Hattie)

Funny story #2: This morning I was reading in third Nephi where Christ come and visits the Americas. I was so excited that I was finally reading it that I leaned too far back and fell out of my chair! Hahah!  My companion really thinks I'm a “crazy white person”!

This week we had a really cool experience we were driving to a less active’s home to meet them for the first time when I had this thought to go street contacting. I thought “oh I will just go after” and turned left when I got this really strong feeling that I need to turn around, get out, and talk to people. So, I made a U turn and listened this time. We got out of the car and talked to two people, and then we bumped into a member of our ward. She looked at us and said “I have someone for you!'' she then gave us directions to where her two daughters were getting their hair cut and told us that we needed to go talk to the person cutting their hair. We went on and said this lady is so so so ready for the gospel and willing to listen. What a miracle it is that we were in the right place at the right time and that we listened to the spirit when we did. It's moments like these that make the truthfulness of what we teach and that we are set with divine guidance it is undeniable THIS CHRUCH IT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My mission has really given me a new look on life. I have always been a happy person, but I have come to know that that is the way our Father has made us to be. Everything He gives us and every guideline is to bring us more joy, everlasting joy! What everyone wants, here in life, is to be happy and most are searching for it! How lucky are we that we know where we can find it. It may even seem strange to people that following commandments make you happy, but it really truly does. The key to happiness is to keep the commandments; it’s really that simple. If there is something in your life that is preventing your from keeping the commandments then change it. This doesn’t mean that it is going to be easy or stress free but "Men are that they might have JOY''  really our Father in heaven wants what is best for us and we can have it as long as we continually try to become closer to him. 

I love and miss my family so much and I want you all to have this joy. I'm telling you now that if you are looking for it somewhere else you are NOT going to find it. If you are just to lazy to do what you are asked then no one else but you are to blame for your unhappiness. NO one but you!!!!!!  I have seen so many people looking in wrong places. I so glad that I get to serve the Lord and be a tool in His hands when people are willing to open up there eyes to His plan for them, "The Plan of Happiness" I love you all, Please take a look at your life and change whatever is stopping you from having that great joy because our Father in Heaven in just waiting to give it to you!

-Sister Cannaday

June 12^th

Jenni Hey there is a note at the bottum just for Troys mom His step dad past away this week. pleas make sure she gettes it and that it is'nt sent to anyone else !  Thank you so much for every thing you do for me.

Really nothing big has happened here in Livermore. My mission has a goal of 10 hours of service every week. It is the best way to soften people’s hearts really it is just so neat. We volunteered at the city’s rodeo to help handicapped people from their cars to their seats and back. It was a lot of fun! The lady that we were working with was just so impressed by the way we work hard, and were always smiling. She started asking question about us and one thing led to another and we thought her the first two lessons from just answering her questions. She told us, "I really like you two, I have never given missionaries the time of day. I'll have to make sure I tell them hi from now on." We asked if she would want us to come over and teach her more, but she told us no thank you! But she did say that the next time she works with missionaries she is going to have questions for them. I love watching the hearts of the people change in just a little amount of time. Everything else this week really didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, but that is just how it goes sometimes as a missionary. I love being a missionary! : )

Now I like to share something with you that has really helped me understand the purpose of our life here on earth it is from the book the Teachings of George Albert Smith. If you have not read it you should! Chapter 7: The Immortality of the Soul is a great chapter that you need read and not just read it but, pray for understanding that you need to take it in to your hearts and make it a part of you. I'm going to share just a little bit with you that I really loved.

George Albert Smith was blessed with a firm understanding of the purpose of life, and this enabled him to encourage others as they faced adversity. He frequently reminded the Saints that “we are living eternal lives”—that eternity doesn’t begin after this life but that mortality is a crucial part of eternity. “I sometimes have said to my friends when they seemed to be at the crossroads, uncertain as to which way they wanted to go, ‘Today is the beginning of eternal happiness or eternal disappointment for you.’”1

President Smith testified of these truths at the funeral services of Hyrum G. Smith, Patriarch to the Church, who had passed away at a relatively young age, leaving behind his wife and eight children:

“I have felt, since I was asked to speak at this funeral, that perhaps I would not be able to do so. My emotions have been stirred, and I have found myself incapable of controlling them, but since I came into this building a beautiful, sweet influence of peace has come into my soul. …

“Instead of mourning I feel to thank our Father in heaven for the Gospel of His Beloved Son that has been revealed anew in our day. … To know that life is eternal is a wonderful blessing,—to know that throughout eternity the blessings that this good man has lived for will be his. His mortal life has been terminated but this is only part of eternal life. He has laid the foundation deep and secure upon which he has built and will continue to build throughout eternity. The joy that he has experienced here upon earth will be added upon. …

“As I think of the experiences of people in the world, on occasions of this kind, I marvel how we have been blessed. I have no more doubt about eternal life and the immortality of the soul than I have that the sun shines at midday. … It is a sad thing to part with our dear ones, even temporarily. We send them upon missions, or they go to other parts of the world to live and we miss them. When an occasion like this occurs it seems that they are more distant, but as a matter of fact they are not, if we but understood. … Instead of extending the condolence that sometimes might go to those who are bereaved, I feel more like rejoicing this day that I know that this is not the end. …

“… So today, as I stand in your presence, when perhaps tears should be flowing, my soul is filled with comfort and satisfaction. I pray that that comfort may be in the lives of each of those who are bereaved.”

I hope everyone has a great week and finds away to build the foundation we need to carry us through the hared times. I love you all! Stay strong! The Lord in by your side!

- Sister Cannaday