How Can I Keep From Singing

Hey everyone!
What an exciting week! We have seen so many miracles and had so much fun! 

It was a week of Christmas Celebrations! 

On Friday we got to have our missionary Christmas devotional and lunch with a few of the zones in the city:) Which is always perfect for me, because that's where all the people I love are serving!! :) The devotional was amazing:) There were some musical numbers, and readings of the nativity in our mission languages (so Spanish, English, and Mandarin). And I got to participate in one the musical numbers!! :) That was such a tender mercy for me. I have felt a little sad the the lack of opportunities to share my testimony through song this year. Especially because I have been pampered for so many years to be in an amazing choir where we got to spend hours and hours and hours singing of christmas:) Anyway, we sang a beautiful arrangement of O Holy Night and I loved it so much (even though... of course my voice was ridiculously out of shape.... I'm trying to not dwell on how the actual performance went haha) 

THEN! There was a baptism in our stake on saturday, and the elder from that area asked me to sing an arrangement of I Stand All Amazed with him:) It was a really really cool arrangement, and again, I was SOOO Grateful for the opportunity to bear my testimony thought song:) 

I turned 10 months last week.. and will turn 20 years old this week.. That's pretty as hard to accept as it seems like it'd be... 

We had our Christmas Ward Party which was a great success! :) We got so many Less Actives to come out and mingle with the ward, so we were really really happy about that:) 

We had 2 exchanges back to back this week too! :P That was pretty rough. I was running around like a crazy person by the end, but we had a good time:) I went with SIster Griffiths from Pinecreek, and Hermana Call from the spanish branch:) They are both really really sweet sisters, so I had a great time learning from them:) 

It's pretty much been FREEZING lately! But then we woke up this morning to it being 30 degrees warmer than it's been... so I can't complain today! :) 

I hope you all have the most wonderful Christmas this week! And enjoy talking to your families/missionaries if that's applicable to you:) 

Stay safe!
Stay Warm!
And always remember the true reason for the season

This is the cutest little ice rink just right outside the library window! #Canadaperks

Missionary Christmas Devotional Lunch with all my favorite sisters!!! :D

My sweet sweet mission president and wife <3 President and Sister Miles #relationshipgoals 

Ward Christmas Party! Turned out so cute!! :) 

The Lord is Pleased but not Satisfied

What a wonderful time to be a missionary!

For starters, I'm happy to announce that Jimmy is DEAD! HOORAY! :D 

We have been stressing about that annoying little things for far too long!
But this morning we woke up to the greatest Christmas gift ever- Jimmy stuck in a trap. We are so happy that it is finally over!! :) 

So this week we had the awesome opportunity of having Elder Clayton of the 70 come and visit our mission:) He came to our MLC meeting, and then to our Zone conference as well! :) My favorite thing that he taught us was that the Lord is pleased, but not satisfied. I think that really sums up what I was trying to say last week! :) I have pondered on that sentence a lot this week, and talked with Sister Frandsen about what we can be doing to continue growing and getting better and doing even more to please the Lord. We are going to really give it everything we've got this week, and I know we are going to see amazing miracles as we do:) 

Being a missionary around Christmas time is my absolute favorite! :D Everyone is so kind and happy to talk to you even if they're not particularly interested. Even though we have been chilled to the bone as we've hit -35 degrees with wind chill this week, we keep trucking along! :) i have loved being able to share the Christmas initiative with everyone, and well as participate in it myself.
I have loved all the awesome service opportunities that we've been able to participate in! :) The other day we went to help out at a community center set up for a craft fair they were having over the weekend, and when we showed up they asked us to help people carry their boxes of stuff from their cars to their stations. We started helping immediately, but it was pretty obvious to everyone we weren't anticipating standing out in the 20 below all night. We got some of the best opportunities i've ever had during service to bring up the gospel and our christmas message! :) we even had a cute older lady give us free hand made scrunchies! haha!:D We wear them every night now:) 

This week we also got to go to the temple!!! :D Hooray! :D 

The Temple is always such a blessing. Wow. I got so much out of it this time around! Fun fact. This was only my 6th time going to the temple, and I have attended the Calgary Temple more than any other temple for endowments! I've been 3 times in Calgary, 2 times in the MTC, and 1 time at Timpanogas for my own endowment!  Kinda crazy to think about! I wish we could go more often than we do. it is always an amazing pump up for the next few weeks after attending:)
After the session was over Sister Frandsen and I were the last 2 people in the Celestial Room, and it was such a neat experience. We both felt like we received the answered to all our questions, and even more direction of what we can be doing in our area. 

I love my mission. I love Sister Frandsen, and I love the Lord. It has been a wonderful week , and I know the next 2 are going to be amazing as well as we prepare for Christmas! :)

I love you all, and hope you enjoy this random list of things that have been freezing this week!
Love, Sister Dobyns 

Fun List of my Frozen Life:

~ Leave your water bottle in the car during an appointment? Enjoy a the perfectly formed ice cubes formed while you were away...
~Have a runny nose? Just walk outside and it, and your nose hairs freeze on impact of the bitter cold.
~Need to write someone's information down to contact another time? I hope you brought a pencil, because all our ink is frozen!
~Everything is always tingling with pain as you walk out to the car
~You can still see your breath in the car for the first 10 minutes of driving

~When you breath in you have a perfect knowledge of where your lungs are located inside of your body because you can feel them freezing from the inside out 

Just some frantic selfies this week! 

Bumped into Sister Blake<3

TEMPLE DAY! -20 degrees! No patience for pictures:P

There's a mouse in my house.

Hello Hello! 

Yet another wonderful week in the Canada Calgary Mission! 

It's been getting pretty cold this week! I think tomorrow we are suppose to have a high of -19 degrees... so that's gunna be pretty fun!  The snow if finally sticking around, and I'm starting to feel like i'm actually in canada! :) 

On Monday some members of our ward brought one of their friends to fhe, and she had a really good time! She said that she is trying to make some new friends and hang out with a different crowd so Tagen and Spencer invited her out:) She kept saying how nice everyone was, and how things just felt different in our church! THEN! She when we were talking to her some more afterwards we were able to answer some of her questions about the church, and invited her to take the discussions and she said yes!! Hooray!! So we are Super excited about that! 

Sister Frandsen and I have made it a goal to pray to find those in this area who are prepared to hear the gospel in every prayer we say, and we are already seeing the blessings! :) 

We got a new Ward Mission Leader this week (Ben Smith). He's a really recently returned missionary and we're really excited to start working with him:) 

Both of the recent converts in our ward bore their testimonies yesterday!! And we are SOO happy about that:) One has been having some struggles lately with his testimony, but has been doing much better lately- and then the other gets really nervous in front of a lot of people, but she just really felt like it was time for her to share her testimony with everyone:) 

In our district meeting on Tuesday we talked about it means to be a successful missionary and how we can recognize that success in ourselves. My favorite thought was you can know that God is pleased with you when you can feel the spirit working within you. There have been moments when I really wonder if Heavenly Father is proud of me, or even just content with my service as His missionary- But I love that we can know God is pleased with us when we feel the spirit working within us:) I have really been able to notice that lately. And I want to work hard to keep that with me each day. When it comes to my mission right now, I just love it!! :) And I don't ever want it to end!!! I know this is the prime time of my mission, so I'm really focusing on giving it all that I can every day:) I want to give God all that I am and just have total trust in His support and timing. And I know as we do this, God will bless us for our efforts and intent:) 

But I also know that this applies to everyone! Not just missionaries! :)
We can know that our efforts are enough, and that our lives are in order with God's will as we have the spirit with us more consistently. I know that God loves each one of us, and wants us to be happy. That happiness comes as we learn about and apply the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our daily lives.

I hope everyone got the chance to watch the Christmas devotional last night! And if you didn't, I would strongly encourage you to find the time to watch it online in the upcoming week :) I loved the messages that were shared and hope we can all focus on their invitations to us all to remember the Christ is the reason for the season:) 

Over all it's been a great week!!! I love the Christmas season and the kindness that comes along with it:) 

I love you all, 

I am thinking about and praying for you this Christmas season! :)
Please stay safe and warm!! :)
Love, 

Sister Dobyns:) 

Just some more weekly planning pictures... 

Exchanges with Sister Shaffer:) 

If you look freakishly closely you can see Jimmy. The mouse that is currently surviving off my food and warm home.
I really want to kill Jimmy this week. 

Trying not to freeze to death! :) 

It's the most wonderful time of the year! :D

What a week! 
It has been such a fun, and exhausting week!!! 

On Monday we got all together as a zone and had a bonfire with hot dogs and peach cobbler! Wow, it was such a fun time:) we just went to a park near our house, and all hung out in the freezing cold for a few hours:)
It was definitely one of my top pdays ever! :) 

Then on Tuesday we got together as a district before our district meeting and had breakfast together! We made crepes and everyone brought things to have with them, and it was a total blast! :) 

The reason why we did all of those fun things is because this week was transfers again!! Sister Halliday has been transferred down to Taber for her last 2 transfers in the mission. I'm so sad to see her go. I love her so so much, and am really disappointed we only got to be companions for a transfer:( 

But now I am with Sister Frandsen! Hooray! I love her a ton too! haha:)
We served around each other already when I was in the east, and were super tight, so when we found out we were going to be companions we both partied hard! :)

She is an amazing friend, and missionary and I know we are going to see so many miracles together! :D 

This week has been so cool because I have really just been able to see exactly how key the Savior is in literally everything we do. As Sister Frandsen met with people this weekend, it was amazing to see that Christ was the answer to every question, and every concern. I am so grateful for my Savior and for His perfect understanding of my life, and yours. And the love that He is ALWAYS offering to give us if we will only humble ourselves and accept His grace and mercy. 

Please remember. Whatever you are currently going through. Big or Small. Hard or Easy. Good or Bad. Please Please Remember that It all comes back to the Savior. It all comes back to Christ. I know that as we look for ways to remember Him, and use His Atonement in our lives every day we will see miracles in ourselves. Christ is the only way to happiness and peace. He is the only way to growth and progression. And He is the only way Home again. 

I want to invite each one of you to look up the Christmas Message the church released this week, and doing something about it each day. I am so grateful for this Christmas season when we are reminded of Christ so often, and all are striving to be a little more like Him. 

Please remember how much you are loved. and how infinitely important you are in the sight of God. Each one of you is an inspiration to me everyday of the person I hope to become. I have learned amazing things from each of your examples, and pray you will continue to be the beautiful light to the world that you are. 

Never give up hope. 

Never give up God. 

Pray to know what you can do to remember our Savior Jesus Christ just a little more, and a little better each day. 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week and this most wonderful time of the year!

Love, 

Sister Dobyns:) 

​​​​

Sister Halliday at transfers! 

our Fun Bonfire:) 

The sweet sisters in my zone:) 

Transfers Already??

Oh man! I can't believe transfers are this week again!! Even though we had a 7 week transfer it still managed to fly by all too quickly!! I guess that is thanks to my amazing companion Sister Halliday making every day enjoyable:) We don't officially know anything about transfers yet, but odds are she's leaving me:( So I'm really bummed about that! I'm always so sad when It's time to leave a companion, But I have also really loved each new one I get, so I know whatever happens will work out:) 

So this week we had some really great lessons with our Investigator:) We talked out all of the concerns that he had last weekend on tuesday, and well, after all having a good cry together, he was excited to keep meeting with 

us! He was able to come to stake conference saturday night and sunday! President Miles spoke Saturdaynight and said some really amazing things I was glad he was able to hear! 

We had house inspections this week, which is always really... fun haha:) 

We also had 2 exchanges this week! I went with Hermana Amaller on wednesday, and with Sister Dewsnup on Friday! Those were both really fun! I'm really grateful to be an STL just so I can get to know so many really cute sisters:) 

Random tender mercy of the week- Our investigator signed up on our dinner calendar to feed us one night, and so we went with another sister of the Ward to Boston Pizza, and when we got there He said that he invited 2 more mormon friends of his. THen walked in 2 members of my Carburn park ward!! So I got to drill them on how all the people we were teaching are, and that was super awesome:) 

And last little blurb for the week: After Stake Conference yesterday we had another lesson with our investigator, and we invited a member of our ward who helped him resolve some of his concerns last weekend, and then also invited 2 elders from another ward who were are the church for the conference. That wasn't a very normal thing to do, but Sister Halliday felt like that who we needed to bring. 

Then as we discussed The Gospel of Jesus Christ, it was soo cool to see how things played out, and there were little things that each person that came added to the lesson. As we were preparing the lesson, SIster Halliday and I discussed not emphasizing baptism as much as we usually would this time because we felt he was getting a little frustrated by that. But then as we talked, and taught about the Gospel, the conversation just naturally flowed to a beautiful point where we had one of the best talks about baptism i've ever had! He didn't agree to baptism yet still, but we talked about some really good things that he is thinking about this week, and i'm excited to hear what he thinks about it this upcoming week:)

Things are going great here:) I love every day! I can't say that enough!  

Being a missionary is the greatest thing you could ever do! man, I love it!! !:) 

Thank you for all the love and support!
Have a wonderful week!
Love, 

Sister Dobyns:) 

Exchanges with Sister Dewsnup! 

All the selfies with SIster Halliday:)

Exchanges with Hermana Amaller

Sister Halliday really enjoying her fruity pebbles from the states! (Thanks mom!) 

Pday at the Remmingtons! SO MUCH FUN! :) 

Give it all to Him

This was... one of the single hardest weeks of my mission. 

Now I don't mean to worry anyone, because things are going great now! And I can only tell you that 11 November 2016 was the hardest day of my mission because it's over now, and life is well. I have learned to trust God so much more than I have before this week. 

Okay, now just remember, I have had a very wonderful, cushy mission, so saying it was the worst day and week doesn't mean much in comparison to anyone else. I recognize, and am grateful that I haven't had many hardships in my mission yet. 

So. 

In retrospection, it wasn't all that bad of a week! :) 

We had our Zone training meetings which both went really well:) 

We were able to see 2 new less actives, and 2 more less actives that we have been trying to get a hold of since I got here! And we got our flu shots! :) 

So what made this week so difficult you may ask? 

Well, as it turned out, in a 72 hour time frame everyone we have been working with, or trying to work with either (1) Dropped us, (2) Cancelled all appointments with us, or (3) had some sort of major challenge, or trial occur that set them back a ton! 

Now this isn't actually the first time I've had a week like this on my mission. 

But for some reason, this week it was simply particularly hard to focus on the bright side, and keep moving forward. 

I have always been the missionary who doesn't let much get me down, and if it does, I don't stay down very long (I know, hard to believe for those who knew me pre-mission). But this week, for whatever reason, each person that walked away, or slammed the door, or gave up on the gospel felt so personal. And after blow, after blow, after blow, I felt like I had reached the bottom of pit that was slowly burying me alive. 

But like i said before- Things are going great now! Truly great. 

I am grateful for the lessons that I have learned earlier in my mission that I feel were preparation for this last week. Even in the midst of despair I knew that everything was going to work out. I knew that even though I didn't understand why so many bad things were happening all at once, I did know that Heavenly Father had a plan for me, and each one of the people we had been working with. 

I studied hard the Atonement of my Savior Jesus Christ and relied heavily on the comforting, and enabling power of it. I read over the talk Missionary Work and the Atonement by Elder Holland and took great comfort in his explanation of why missionary work can be so hard sometimes. 

After many heartfelt prayers, I was finally able to get past the slump I was in and rededicate myself to working hard and knowing that we would be led to the people that we are meant to be working with right now. 

It's amazing how quickly things turned around once I stopped letting myself dwell on how hard I thought things were. 

Surprisingly enough- Our investigator who had dropped us, came to church on Sunday and told us he would like to meet with us multiple times this week. A recent convert who had told us he needed to take time away from the church, also came to church, and even brought his nonmember friend with him. And we have been able to fill our very empty upcoming week with lots of positive appointments! 

In short, almost every thing that happened that I saw as a great trial or disappointment, has completely been turned around! 

I am grateful to have had the trails we did this week because like I said, I feel like I have learned so much from it. I'm especially grateful for Sister Halliday this week. She was such a blessing to me as she did her best to have enough faith and positivity for the both of us! 

It seems as though last week was just a little bit of test for me to see how I would handle everything falling apart, and then as soon as I was humble and willing enough to turn my heart and trust over to the Lord, everything resolved itself again. 

I know that is not usually the case with our trials, so I feel blessed things were able to get better so quickly:) 

I love my Savior, and my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for their careful hand in all that goes on in my life. I love my mission, and am so happy with all the experiences I get to have here. and all the growth that comes along with it. 

i hope you all have a great week and really try to remember to turn everything over to the Lord. Take a step back, recognize where your own pride may be holding you back, and let it all go to the Savior. He will take care of you. I can promise you as His representative that your life WILL improve as you sincerely give it all to Him, and walk away. 

I love you!! And most importantly They love you even more!
-Sister Dobyns

(Sorry I forgot my camera again... I'll send pics next week I promise) 

Let the Holy Spirit Guide

Halloween was really fun! We all carved mini watermelons instead of pumpkins because they were all sold out by the time we got there, but it was a ton of fun! :) 

After p-day was over, we went back to our apartment because we didn't have a dinner and ate pizza with the hermanas and got to hang out the rest of the night:) It was pretty fun! :) 

On Tuesday we had interviews with our mission president which I always look forward to! :) I love President Miles and am astonished at how much he does for all of us in this mission! Later in the day we were doing some drop by's before our dinner appointment at 5:30, and as we were praying before knocking on the last door we had planned before heading to dinner I had this feeling that this was not where we were supposed to be. When Sister Halliday finished the prayer and she looked at me and said "I feel like you just got revelation." And I told her what I thought. She asked if we were in danger and I didn't think that was the case- I just knew there was somewhere else we were supposed to be. So we quickly ran and knocked on the door anyway, because I really wasn't sure what we should be doing instead, but no one answered. So we jumped back in the car and it was time to head to dinner. But as we started driving I started telling Sister Halliday to turn on certain streets, and next thing we know we were parked on a street and there were 4 houses on the other side of the street. I told Sister Halliday it was one of these 4 we needed to see right now. So we prayed again, and went and knocked the doors. The first 2 were very typical tracting experiences, One said they had their own church, and the other said they have mormon friends so if they're ever curious they'll talk to them. It was past 5:30 at that point and we were late for our dinner, but we knocked on the next door anyway. An English woman came to the door and we told her we were missionaries and asked about her religion and everything, and she told us they were brand new to the neighborhood and had just moved in yesterday! They belong to the Church of England, but that's not in Canada so they don't currently have a church. Then she said that she would be interested in learning what the differences were between her church and mormons, so we set up a time to come back and teach her!! We couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear after that! We went to our dinner after that, and they had been running behind anyway and pulled up to the restaurant at the same time as us!! 

That was such an amazing experience that I know I will remember for the rest of my life. I am so grateful for the amazing blessing of the spirit and the opportunity I have as a missionary to truly be led to the path that Christ would have walked. 

We went back later this week and were able to teach Her and her 15 year old daughter the first lesson, and they said they would read and pray!! We are SO excited for them! We are passing them off to the Family Ward Elders this week, and can't wait to hear all about their progress! Keep them in your prayers! (Nicola and Coran) 

On Wednesday I got to drive down to Lethbridge for our MLC meeting! That was really fun, but always reminds me how much I really really love the city and am grateful to be serving here haha:) 

THe meeting was really great and we will be doing our trainings on it in our zones tomorrow! :) 

Then on Friday we had exchanges with the Pinecreek Sisters which was super fun too! They are really sweet sisters so it was a really great day and I was able to learn a lot from their examples:) 

And on Saturday we got SUSHI! [as our "halloween package" haha]

And I also enjoy that more than I should:) 

All in all it's been an amazing week! Sadly, I'm our of time already, but I love you all hope you enjoy this upcoming week!

I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Sister Dobyns:) 

Sushi!!! 

Halloween! 

Halloween Night, Pizza with the Hermanas! 

Straightening H. Amaller's Hair! 

Weekly Planning on the porch! 

This is 1 example of what our meals are looking like nowadays #nutritionplan