Mad, Frantic, e-mail!

Okay, I spent a little too much time today e-mailing friends individually... so this week's email is going to be super lame.. sorry about that:P But I'm suuuper grateful for all my wonderful friends and that they even took the time to write me, so it's a happy trade this week:) 

So this was a really great week! :) 

On monday Sister Ence and I went to the Zoo! I'm sure I will include many pictures... :) That was super fun and random haha:) But we decided we wanted to get out more and do fun things:) 

Then on Thursday we had the amazing opportunity to go to the TEMPLE! hooray! I hadn't been in like 4 months!!! So I was very happy to be back:) 

We watched the RS Broadcast on Saturday which was SO AMAZING! I can't wait to get a copy of the talks because I loved them SOO much!!! If you haven't had the chance to watch it yet, DO IT! I loved every minute of it:) :) 

Sister Ence and I got 2 new investigators that we're really excited about, and have Emanuel's baptism coming up soon! (Honestly, I'll most like be transferred a few days before he is baptized, so that's a little sad, but we're excited for him none the less! :) )

There are really great things happening here, and I am SOO excited for conference this weekend! Oh man, It's better than Christmas, let me tell you! 

One thing that I have taken great comfort in these past few weeks is the story of Christ calling Peter and the other apostles to come and follow Him. He didn't care who they were, or what imperfections they had. He simply bade them to come and change. To come, and learn and grow through the gospel and sharing it with others. It's pretty evident throughout the scriptures that Peter was a pretty impulsive guy (i.e. chopping off that one guy's ear when arresting Christ). But even through his imperfections, he was a great teacher, and amazing disciple of Jesus Christ. As long as one is willing to "come and change," they are good enough to be on the Lord's errand and serve Him. I know so many of us feel inadequate in some way. Whether that is in our calling in the church, or role in the home, or assignment at work, we can be enough. Through the grace of our Savior and the empowering blessing of the Atonement, we can do all things. 

I have had the phrase "You can do hard things" pop into my mind several times this week, and I know that it is true. We can all do the impossible when we are willing to humble ourselves and simple Come to, and Change in Christ. 

Once again,
I love you ever so dearly!
I pray for you, 

I'm grateful for you!
And I hope you have an uplifting, and spiritual experience this weekend as we have the opportunity to hear from our wonderful prophet and apostles. 

Love, Sister Dobyns:) 

The Calgary Zoo! :) 

The Zoo in the fall is actually SUPER beautiful! :) Loved it! :) 

A candid picture Sister Ence caught... haha The Bats really creeped me out!

Good Advice... 

I don't know why, but this picture makes me laugh for days! :) 

Our Temple Trip! :)

Slurpee's... Chili... and a Shiny New Car;)

This has been a busy week! :) 

Every year the church sponsors a city-wide food drive for the food banks here in Calgary, and every stake is assigned to run it in their boundaries. So on monday we ran around passing out bags and flyers for the food drive for like 2 hours!! And then on Saturday we spent another 3 hours driving around and picking the bags of food up that people set out on their porches! :) It was SO fun! We went with a couple in our wards bishopric, the Fairbanks (remember the name- i love them), and were able to get A LOT done! Then on Sunday they announced that the food drive collected over 200,000 kg of food!! I couldn't believe how generous people were even with the economy being really poor right now in Alberta. 

This week we also had our Zone Conference! :) 

That was a ton of fun especially because... WE GOT A NEW CAR!
And when I say new... I mean... NEW! Like, there were only 40 km on the car when we got it because that's how far it took to get to us from the dealership! NEW NEW NEW NEW NEW!  

It's a 2016 Nissan Rogue, and I have never felt this spoiled before in my life! (which is saying something...) It's been a HUGE blessing, especially because now we have a way of listening to music in the car! haha! Our other car apparently was one of the very oldest cars in the mission, so when the mission bought some new cars, we got one! Talk about moving up the food chain! :) 

We love it, and are soooo grateful for it! We joke about how it's the nicest car either of us will be driving for quite some time now... 

Also, Zone Conference was a totally nerve wrecking experience because Sister Miles asked me to be the accompanist for the meeting!  It's funny. No matter how many times you tell people you can't play piano... no body ever believes you... 

But thanks to the ultimate grace of my Father in Heaven I was able to play the songs they chose! Not only that, but was also able to accompany a musical number that we picked 20 minutes before the meeting started!! I definitely give all the credit of being able to pull that off to my very loving Heavenly Father! WHoo! 

Yesterday we had ward conference, and our investigator who is scheduled to be baptized this Sunday never showed up!  I was really really disappointed by that and started to get a little down on myself, which I really try to avoid because I know I'm doing my best. But, nonetheless, I found myself feeling frustrated and discouraged by it. It hung over me the rest of the day even as we were able to meet up with our investigator later and find out why he didn't come, and then had a lesson with him. 

But at the end of the day, as Sister Ence and I were filling out our key indicators and discussing the day, I had the realization of how many things I was able to learned from our meetings, and how well our lesson went with Emanuel after church, and how sweet the members were who had us over for dinner. I was filled with gratitude as I could feel the pessimism melt away, and the joy of counting my blessing come back into my life. It's so amazing to me that all it takes to be happy in life is simple gratitude and acknowledgement of the Lord's hand in our lives. 

I am so grateful for a Savior who can always turn what seems like a bad day into a an amazing one. 

It's been a good week and I know we'll keep seeing miracles as we focus on the good, and never let the imperfections of life get us down. 

It's my prayer that you will all do the same! 

Much love, 

Sister Dobyns:) 

p.s. Follow @alexwilliams on insta 

(I promised I would include that haha) 

Washing our old car before turning it in! 

Helping out with the food drive! 

7 Months Old, 11 Left to go! (get it? ... cuz it's 7/11? )

I waited 6 months to take this picture haha! :) 

Our Brand New Beautiful Car! :) 

I'm running out of poster ideas... so Sister Ence made this ADORABLE one for me!! :) 

"Angels Sent Just For Me"

Another good week for us in East Calgary! :) 

So we live in the part of Calgary known as "the ghetto," which, is pretty comical because turns out Canadian Ghettos are nothing like US Ghettos haha:) But anyway! Because it's "the Ghetto" there is A LOT of diversity here:) And we live super close to a main street that's called "International Avenue!" And there are TONS of different restaurants and things that Sister Ence and I have been a little too afraid to try haha. But this week we did!! We went to a Vietnamese place with some members and tried Pho for the first time! It was very different, but pretty good! :)

We had a lot of roller-coaster experiences with some less-actives too! haha:) We have been working with this great less active who was pretty much just reactivating himself, but then also has A LOT of questions!! And last week he skipped out of church early, and so we text him to make sure he was doing alright and set up a time to see him again. Then we we met up a few days later our lesson didn't go anywhere near how we had planned.... He was really frustrated because he felt like God wasn't real since he hadn't gotten an answer to his prayers yet. In the end, he basically dropped us and told us that he wasn't going to continue with this church thing anymore. 

We were so devastated to see him go because we could tell how badly he wanted an answer and a place to turn, and he was walking about from the one place he was going to get that. 

But then only a few hours later he sent us a text telling us thank you for all that we have done for him, and that he was praying after our meeting and he thinks that he might have felt god!! That was such an amazing feeling! Whew! So he came to church again this week, and says he's still working through things, but isn't giving up just yet:) 

We also started teaching several new people this week between new investigators and new less actives, it's been really awesome! :) 

And for the first time in my entire mission I got to teach a lesson to someone we had just met!! Whoo! That was pretty exciting! We were trying to get a hold of a less active in our family ward, and after we had knocked on the door, the lady across the way comes out of her house and yells at us telling us that we have the wrong house. We told her who we were looking for and she said that they haven't lived there in years. So naturally we walked over to her as she was explaining the situation. So then we told her that we are missionaries, and asked if she'd be interested in a message about Jesus Christ and how we have found strength in our lives through Him, and she actually said yes!!!
Okay well... her exact words were "...yeah sure I'll listen to your message. I'm drinking so I'll listen." But we ran with it! haha! :) 

She led us into her house and she had another friend sitting on the couch in the front room. She continued to tell us that they were both going through a hard time right now so they could use all the help they can get. So we started to teach them the restoration, but when we got to "The Gospel Blesses Families" you could tell they both seemed really upset. So we stopped and they told us that they have both recently had children pass away. One in a fire, and another in a ATV accident. We then listened to them for a while and then stopped and decided to teach them about the plan of salvation and how much God loves them and is aware of the pain they are feeling, but that there is a way to replace that pain with peace. They were really receptive to the message, but we weren't able to teach the full lesson because of some other people showing up. But they thanked us for the message and told us how much we really helped them. And they just kept calling us "their angels." "Their angels that God sent just for them." That was one of the most humbling experiences that I have ever. We are hopeful to see them again and finish teaching them about God's plan for them. 

But missionary work is such an amazing opportunity. I don't think there is a better feeling than someone telling you that you are their angel sent from God for them. This is why I decided to serve a mission! To help uplift and bless God's children in any way that I can. I'm so grateful to be the instrument in His hands in bringing peace and love those to all His children. 

Then yesterday for church we had a city wide Sacrament meeting! That was pretty cool because I got to see Andy again, and some other sisters in YSA throughout the city:) 

In the meeting we got to hear from the Calgary Temple President and his wife. That was a really neat experience. Then there was a YSA broadcast by Elder Cook later that night that was also really amazing! I loved everything that the speakers said yesterday, but this morning when I was going back over my notes I really realized that most of what I wrote down weren't actually things that were said. I am so grateful for that. For the blessing of personal revelation. Sister Ence and I have decided that we are going to go to the temple this week or next week finally. It's been sooo long! Almost 4 months since I've been able to go! 4 Months too long, I can tell you that! That is one of the biggest challenges we have as missionaries. But I know, I just need to be grateful that I get to go at all! :) 

Anywho! It has been a wonderfully lovely week! :) I love my mission:) 

I have really learned how important it is to draw nearer to my Savior every single day. And honestly, there are some days where I don't know how I can give anymore than I have. I feel a little exhausted and inadequate, but as I have continued trying to grow, and really studying the atonement, I have been blown away at how every time I feel like I've hit a ceiling, Heavenly Father raises it for me- allowing even more growth to take place:) 

I hope you have a great week! And see many miracles!
Love you!
Sister Dobyns:) 

3-leg for a day while Sister Stash's trainers (our STL's had a meeting in the south)

Sunflowers are really big up here:) 

Trying to figure out how to eat Pho... 

New Transfer:)

It was Transfers week again this week! 

Thankfully I get to stay with Sister Ence, but we did find out that this is only going to be a 5-week transfer! I'm trying not to sad, but I honestly just feel a little jipped of my last week with Sister Ence! haha! I just have to focus on the amazing blessing it's been to be with her these last 6, and next 5 weeks! :) 

I have been so blessed when it comes to my companions, but the down side of that is I never want to say goodbye to them!! But I'm grateful that's my only complaint:) 

Side Note: Happy Late Anniversary to my parents! :) 9/3/93 Thank goodness it's a catchy date, because I almost forgot it:P Sorry! But I love you both! Thanks for ya know, giving my life and everything I know:) 

So we had a pretty good week, but I think it was really just in preparation for how amazing this upcoming week is going to be!! :) We got a new investigator this week, and have appointments with 2 possible investigators that seem really solid! So we're super psyched for that! :) We were expected several investigators at church this week, but sadly, because of the long weekend they all ended up with other plans:P 

It's starting to get a little chilly already! Which is pretty normal for September, but it's still so hard to accept since we never got much of a summer up here! Summer came early and it lasted 2 weeks! haha! 

Yesterday in Sunday School I taught a lesson on Charity, and that was pretty neat. I have learned so much about charity since coming on my mission so every time I really get to reflect on it all I feel so grateful. Just a little thought that I loved was that we truly have to become charitable, and not just seem charitable. Like it says in 1 Cor. 13, we can give everything that we have away, including our own lives- but unless we have sincere love and intention, it profiteth us nothing. So that leads to the question of How Do I Become Charitable? What I have found it that studying the Saviors life, and following His perfect example, has helped me so much. It has helped me better understand the way Christ truly would act in any situation. Also, like Moroni teaches, praying to our Father in Heaven with all the energy of our soul. I could go on a very long tangent on that thought alone, but this is something I've really come to understand as well. I don't think I ever fully experienced what that felt like until my mission. But I have been able to see the strength  that I have been given and lasting change in my life as I continue to pray with all the energy of my soul. Another thing we can do is to learn to love our selves. In Matthew Christ teaches we must love our Heavenly Father, and love our neighbor as ourselves. I think this is a really important concept. To remember that we are God's children, and He loves us infinitely. Just as it's important to treat all those around us like they are God's children, we need to remember that so are we. And our Father wants us to be kind and charitable to ourselves as well. Now don't take this too far. We must also learn to have humility and remember our Father loves all those around us just as much as He loves us. So we can't ever put ourselves above another. But as we do those things (Study the Savior's life, Pray with all the energy of our souls, love ourselves, and have humility) we will grow in Charity which is the highest, noblest, and strongest kind of love. 

So this is my challenge to you this week! Above all things, strive for fervent charity:)

I love you all! And hope you have a great week at work, school, your mission, or whatever else you may be doing! :)

Love, 

Sister Dobyns

Together Again! (Did I ever mention that Sister Atkinson was in my zone here?) 
3 Leg for the day when her comp was at a meeting for new trainers this transfer

Good morning Canada... It's soo cold in the mornings already:P

Picnic with the new Zone! 

Christmas in September<3 Also diabetes in September...
#500AmericanOreos (Canadian oreos are super gross in case anyone was wondering...)

A Tribute To The Ones That Raised Me....

Have you guys ever thought about how amazing the gospel is? 

Okay, yeah, of course you have. But really. Just pause for a second and think about it. 

I think we take the beauty of the gospel for granted all too often. At least I know I do! 

I think part of it may be because I was raised having the gospel always there. 

Some days I think of that as a lame thing because I don't have this "powerful conversion story" and I can't relate to my investigators as well. But I will tell you. I can never repay my parents for blessing me with raising me in the church. 

I was thinking about it the other morning. It is amazing that I am here in Canada right now dedicating my life to my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ. I don't mean to say that in a boastful way at all! But I mean it in the most grateful way possible! I thought of the rest of the world, and exactly what other people my age are doing with their lives right now... For the most part, they are doing very different things than me. They are have very different dreams and hopes and hobbies and habits. 

Then I thought about the family that I will have someday, and how badly I will want my children to have strong testimonies, and know the things I know. And that's a little daunting of a thought. I mean, you can do everything right as a parent and raise your children perfectly, but in the end they still have agency! And they still have to come to gain their own testimonies in this crazy world! And I just thought of how strong my testimony is, and how I can never deny the things I know to be true no matter what experiences and trials I go through in this life. I want that so badly for everyone! But the thought just occurred to me of how proud I hope my parents are of how they raised me. Congrats guys, you did it! You don't need to worry about me. 

Now don't get me wrong, every one, and every relationship has their weaknesses and things they can do to improve. So I am in no way saying that my parents are perfect;) (Sorry to spill the beans). But I am saying that, even with all the bumps we had a long the way, the day I moved out from home I knew who I was, and what I wanted. And that was that I am first and foremost, a daughter of God. And I want to become the daughter that He knows I can be. I want to fulfill all the potential that He sees in me. And I'm going to do whatever it takes to become the daughter that He is proud of, and knows He can always count on, and that makes it back to live with Him forever with complete Joy.

And that's all I think you can really do for your kids. Because once they have they witness for themselves, it's up to them to live up to it! But you've taught them how. 

So once again, shout out to my parents! On the days when you feel like nothing is going to way you want it to, just remember that something that you did worked, and it worked perfectly:) I just hope and pray that someday I can be as successful as a parent as you have been for my own family. 

Anyway! It has been a ...good week. I mean, I am having a great time and make the most of every day, So i naturally want to say it's been a GREAT week! But then when I actually reflect on it... it kinda stunk! haha! We had pretty much every single appointment we had made cancel on us for one reason or another... and that was pretty crummy! But opposition in all things right? That just means we're about to have a stellar week now, so watch out Calgary! We're coming for ya! haha:) 

So yeah, Sorry I don't have much to update you on! 

We're still working with Emanuel... that is, when he actually shows up for our appointments haha. And we're working with an amazing Less Active who is seriously such an inspiration to me! He is basically reactivating himself. It's amazing. He is so determined to change his life around and make improvements, and he's come to church to do it. Amazing. He is struggling with so many things right now including several addictions he wants to quite. And yesterday he had a moment where Satan really hit him hard and he started to feel discouraged and like it was hopeless. But we helped him understand that is Satan working on him, and how Jesus Christ understands how hard it is going to be, but how He also knows he can do it! So keep him in your prayers this week! :)

And now, it's time for me to run again!
I love you!
I really really do!

I hope you will always remember who you are, and who you want to become everyday and then do something about it! Change is real, and it is amazing. Whatever your struggle may be today, just know that with the help of our Savior, it can be put behind you. But it's always going to be a work in progress. Don't be discouraged by that, instead be grateful for the opportunity we have to improve continuously. 

Love Sister Dobyns

I left my camera at home again, so this is me right now! :) 

Sorry about that! 

Tender Mercies All Around

This was a wonderful week! :) 

I am really loving serving in the east! 

Last week for p-day our zone got together and had another little Olympics! It was especially fun this week since all of us were wishing we could watch the actual Olympics! No surprises when I say our time won!:) Haha, it was all thanks to Sister Ence and her extremely sporty self! :) 

On Friday we had our re-trainers meeting with President, and all of the other missionaries that came out with Sister Ence. That was really fun for her to get to see all of her old friends again! :) And President gave a great training on Relying on the Lord in all that we do, and choosing to be happy every day of our lives. 

This week we almost got 4 new investigators! We had 4 lessons set up, but then... one by one they all fell though for one reason or another... That was a total bummer, but just means that we are going to get 4 new investigators this week instead! :) It's pretty funny because right now we are teaching so many people with names from the scriptures... We've got Emanuel, Jacob, Solomon, Isaiah, Benjamin, Elijah, and Peter, James, and John! We got a kick out of that! 

And then yesterday was the greatest tender mercy in the world! 

I got to back to the West to my old chapel for a YSA fireside! 

AND! I got to see my recent convert Andy! AND my last companion Sister Blake! 

It was SO amazing to see them all again! And, to my surprise, I found out my old area is only 15 km away from my current area....

My dream is to get called to Calgary Central next so I can be right in between my areas! :) 

It really dawned on my the other day how fast this time is going by, and how it's just gonna get worse. I've already spent almost half of my time with Sister Ence! AH! 

But I have seriously been SO blessed when it comes to companions... I mean, I love Sister Allard (she goes home this week! CRAZY!) she is the most compassionate person I have ever met, and Sister Blake is basically my twin and soul mate in life and who will be forced to be my friends forever, And Sister Ence! Who is the biggest spiritual giant I have ever encountered, as well as THE biggest goofball... SO there have been a lot of really good times! :) I hope I'm not jinxing myself when I say I'm finally not nervous about who I'm going to be companions with after this. God's got it under control and I would't have it any other way:) 

So that's it for today!
it's been an awesome week! 

Also, Shout out to Hannah Davis getting her mission call! I cannot believe it even for a second! Congrats!! :D 

Love Sister Dobyns

My kind of Oil! change

I look like a TOTAL hobo because it was a crazy long day,
but I HAD to take a picture with this beautiful beautiful sister:) 

Got to see Andy at the YSA Fireside!! 

Our Zone had a P-day Olympics in honor of... well, the Olympics.

(Egg race)

This picture best sums up our relationship.... 

No, Actually this one does. haha Happy 6 months/50 Days old to us! 

I can't believe it's been 6 months....

Hello everyone! :) I hope you have all had a great summer so far! :) It hasn't felt like summer here too much lately. We've been getting buckets of rain on a daily basis for quite some time now... but supposedly it will be a sunny day all day today, so I'm looking forward to that! :) 

This was a great week:) 

We started it off AMAZING by taking a trip up to BANFF!!! 

We went with our ward mission leader and the other sisters in our district! 

Like previously mentioned, it was a rainy day, but we felt so blessed because it wasn't ever too hard of rainfall, and there would be a few minutes without rainfall every once in a while! Also it was a fairly ward rain, so it didn't ruin the trip in the slightest:) 

We had a lesson with our investigator Emanuel on Tuesday, and at the end of the lesson Sister Ence invited him to be baptized on the 27th of August and he said yes!! It was so exciting! If you have seen the district, Emanuel reminds us SO much of German! We love it! :) 

Some missionaries in our zone had a baptism on friday, so we invited Emanuel to come with us so he could see what his own baptism would be like- we arranged for a member to pick him up and take him to the baptism, and he seemed excited to go. But... Emanuel has a reputation for being hours late for things so he only made it to the closing remarks of the baptism. So we just showed him the font afterwards and talked a little bit more about baptism, and invited him to come to church on Sunday, and to have another lesson Saturday night. He said he'd love to, but then once again, did not even show up for the lesson on saturday. We rescheduled for Sunday, an hour before church starts, and He didn't even make it to priesthood. Needless to say we're not exactly sure what to do with him right now. We're doing what we can to be encouraging and trying to help him understand the importance of time, and church, but we're not too sure what else we can do for him. 

We're optimistic that he will still be baptized, but we will most likely need to push the date back to make sure he understands the importance of it, and of attending church and lessons. 

On Thursday we had a little "Mini Zone Conference!" Which is basically just zone conference that lasted half the time it usually does. It was a great meeting, and I loved everything that President Miles taught us! He really focused on relying on the lord and involving Him in every stage of this work. I always look forward to hearing from President, and am really excited about applying all the things that he taught to our work. So far it has been going really well! We know there are many miracles God is just waiting for us to be led to them! :) 

We also sang at a cute old folks home as a district on thursday. There were about a dozen cute seniors that came down just to listen to us sing some hymns and children's songs. Some of them even sang along with us using the hymnbooks we brought. It was a really sweet experience to see tears well up in each of their eyes as we sang songs that testified of God, Jesus Christ, Prayer, and Their love for each of us:) In my opinion there is no better way to bring the spirit than by music:) 

On Friday we had a really neat experience. We had a lesson with an investigator fall through and we weren't sure what we were going to do with that time! In our rush to make it to the appointment ontime we left our directory, and binder of people to visit in the apartment which was a 30 minute drive away! By the time we would have made it back to our apartment it would have been time to turn back and drive right back through where we were to go to the baptism at 7! 

At that exact moment our STL's called us to ask about something, and also mentioned that we should try and drop by the Shelly family if we got the chance. (The STL's also cover the Shepard ward with us, which was the area we were in) And they had been the 3rd person to mention their name to us this week! So we took that as a sign and were able to get the address from the STL's. 

As it turned out, they were just a few blocks away from where we were! So we knocked on their door and Sister Shelly came outside and started talking with us. She told us they have been inactive for over 30 years, and had gone to church the other day because he husband John was recovering from cancer, and that was their way of thanking God. She then immediately informed us we shouldn't get our hopes us because they weren't being activated anytime soon! Then she asked us what our plans were for the rest of the night. We told her we were going to a baptism at 7, and she asked us if we were going to have time for dinner. 

Sister Ence and I had just been planning of grabbing something quick as we drove to the baptism, but in attempts of being invited into her home we told her we didn't have a place to go for dinner and didn't really have time to go all the way back to our house in forest lawn. She then offered us some protein shakes to take with us, and we said that would be awesome!:) Our tactics worked as she invited us to come in as she grabbed them for us! Her husband John was sitting on the couch right there and invited us to sit down for a little. So we gratefully sat down and were then able to spend another hour talking to and getting to know John and Kelly(The wife). They are both really sweet people and we are really excited to keep getting to know them and teaching them again! 

But that's one thing I love about the church. Even after being inactive for 30 years, we still knew who they were, and there have been people reaching out to them for years letting them know we love them, and haven't forgotten them. 

And then the last big news is on Sunday we got a new bishopric in the ysa ward! Which was REALLY unexpected because the bishopric had only been there since the ward was created in December last year! But we are really excited to start working with the new bishopric now!:) 

Phew! That's it! I love you all, hope you enjoy the last few weeks of summer! 

<3/ Sister Dobyns! 

Enjoy these amazing pictures of banff and other things:)