CANADIAN THANKSGIVING!

Thanksgiving before Halloween?! Ya, its weird I know! :) But it was still such a wonderful day!

But mostly because I got to talk to people all day!! We actually had exchanges yesterday so Sister Stoddard came to the Churchville YSA area and we had a ball!! We only had one appointment set up, so the rest of the day was free for us to go street contacting!! And we went on a road trip for that one… stopping at every place to share the good news! ;) We first went to the Humber North Campus and talked with people there. We actually met two solid girls who love the Lord! We taught them about the Restoration and they are excited to learn more! Then we went to York University and contacted around there and little and then decided to walk over to Finch and Sential and we met the best person ever! It was this man from China! He was so excited about everything and he even said his first prayer with us! :) The spirit that comes when someone says their first prayer, even if it is on a busy street corner,… is pretty amazing.

Now Thanksgiving dinner!! :) Yummy!! We have this wonderful couple in the branch presidency who had us over for dinner. They treat us too well!! It was like the Thanksgiving dinner we have at home. We had mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and lots and lots of turkey! I was so stuffed! Probably gained like 15 pounds, but that’s okay! We all do on missions ;) Well at least Sister Gillins does.

Oh! And we are finally getting our gross moldy ceiling fixed! yay!!! No more gross showers :) haha it was actually all cut open this week and stuff kept falling out. So Sister Droge and I decided to go to the chapel for work outs and just take a shower there! :) It was actually not as bad as I thought! It worked out swimmingly. :)

For PDAY…. We are getting ready to play a Turkey Bowl. Our Zone is getting together. I am playing center because I think I am big and can dominate(; haha…Jokester. Actually I want to play that position because the only thing I can catch is the common cold. I won’t be able to catch the football.

Love you all!!

Sister Gillins 

ZONE TURKEY BOWL

SISTER G- "HUTTING THE BALL"
SISTERS DOMINATE

The gross moldy bubble!! 

Awkward zone pictures are the best! :) 

We love the Hermanas!! :)
(spanish speaking Sisters) 

LIFE SAVER !!

Sister Droge saved my life this week! I was taking my vitamins in the morning as we started personal study and one just wouldn’t go down!! The little booger was just chillin' in my throat like it was no bodies business! I kept trying to cough it up but it wouldn’t go! Luckily I was still breathing. So Sister Droge told me to get up and jump, so I started to jump around our apartment. Nothing. That booger was hanging on for dear life! Sister Droge started to hit my back. Nothing. It was probably the worst feeling in the world. I sat there for about a minute in the bathroom hacking up a storm!! Finally Sister Droge came to the bathroom with some gross yellow water, (which I found out was my apple juice that she mixed with water) and I drank it and was fine. This whole experience was very traumatic and I never want it to happen again.

We got stuck in traffic. Again! Just like we do every day of our lives. But this week we took videos!! too bad none of you can see them.. You'll just have to wait 11 months and then you can see how funny Sister Droge and I are! :) But I did take some pictures.. but it doesn’t even capture how horrid it is to hit traffic at 3 in the afternoon.. like how does that even happen? I don’t know.

For PDAY….We get to put up Halloween Decorations today. Because my mom is awesome! She sent the whole District some Halloween Candy and decorations. Then I get to clean, get some icecream and go WATCH sports. The Elders are nice and tell me to play…but, I’m not good and I don’t enjoy being smashed with a ball multiple times… The Elders and some Sisters take their sports serious…haha. I smashed my finger just trying to put up the volleyball net last week. I think I will just catch up on writing some letters….

Conference was the best!! We are so privileged to hear from a living prophet and his apostles every 6 months! I think the week of conference is the best. I love telling people that they could hear the prophet on a live broadcast! There reactions are the best! Most people think I'm crazy but some people think that is really cool!! And it is really cool!! The things they say to us really do apply to our every day lives! They are NOT just old men with beards and robes, but smart educated men led by the Lord to help us get through every day life!! I learned a lot from conference, but I think the best thing was the overwhelming feeling of my Saviors love as I watched. I know that my Savior loves me and all of His children. It is amazing that I have the opportunity to teach that each day. Missionary work is the best! Good thing every member is a missionary so I can do this for the rest of my life!! :)

Oh ya!! We survived transfers!! Sister Droge and I are staying is Churchville YSA! The anxiety that goes into transfer calls is almost too much to bear! So we watched, "How rare a possession" to keep our mind off of things. :) ! This place is the bomb!!

Love,

Sister Gillins 

I love my Companion! She is so Cute!

The Anxiety of "WAITING"
for transfer news!!

Watching "How rare a possession"
 to keep our mind off of things. :) 

I can't take this Toronto traffic anymore!!
IT IS HORROR TO ME!!

17 min car rides turn into
45 min car rides in the blink of an eye! 

I love to see the TEMPLE !!

This week was AMAZING! Pretty much like every week while you are on a mission :)

This week we were able to meet some pretty amazing people! And those amazing people came to church!! :) And those amazing people also read in the Book of Mormon! More than we asked them to read. I know, I know what you all are thinking, MISSION MIRACLE! But really. Young Single Adults are the bomb! They are so prepared and they are so ready to learn. They really do take everything in. The things they are able to understand are amazing and the questions they do have really make me think. So as I study and prepare for our lessons I am learning so much more than I ever have! I love this area and these people so much!

This week we also got to go to the TEMPLE! Woohoo!!

Earlier this week Sister Droge and I actually packed a lunch and ate lunch on the temple grounds. The spirit you feel by just standing on the ground around the temple is amazing. On Saturday morning we actually got to go inside and do a temple session. It is something I needed and I am so grateful that I was able to attend. Because when you haven’t been for awhile you tend to forget the spirit that is felt there. It is so much stronger and sweeter there than anywhere else. And that is why we have been asked to attend as regularly as possible. To never let the temple escape our view.

Later that night at the General Women’s Broadcast they talked a lot about temples! What a great way to finish the day! :) But the temples are the House of God. It is where we are able to go and gain further truth and knowledge. Our mission president has asked us to try to get our recent converts to the temple as soon as possible. At least 2-3 months after they are baptized. I know how important this is. The temple is such a sacred place and I want everyone to feel the way I have felt by attending the temple.

Oh ya!! as a side note, last week I smashed my finger! It went blue instantly!! Pretty sweet eh!? Elder Barrett (senior missionary) told me to put a whole in it and let the blood drain out. All I could think about is when Grandpa Glover smashed his fingure at Bear Lake and did the same thing.. Maybe Ill try it tonight and see if the pressure lets up.

Love,

Sister Gillins

 Hi we are missionaries and we
 'mustache' you a question!

I think I may get married in this temple. 

I think its a nice shade of blue. 

Testimony

This week we had the opportunity to have Elder Cardon of the Seventy come and speak with us. I love being able to just sit and be taught. I love teaching.. but being taught is the best thing in the world! Especially from a General Authority. He helped us understand our role as missionaries and how we are called and the organization of the church. I am ever so grateful for how organized our church is!! :) He also went over how important it is to never mention baptism without confirmation. The two are so important together. That without receiving the Holy Ghost baptism is not complete. I am so grateful that he mentioned that because I think that is something I am lacking and need to make clear as I teach.

I have had the opportunity to hear some amazing testimonies this week as well. Mainly from Recent-Converts. Seeing the gospel change their life has been such a blessing in my life! It reminds me that I need to allow the gospel to change my life every day. One of the Recent-Converts in my area is named Aditya and he said something last night that hit me. We live in a pretty big city and there are tall buildings all around. He said he looks up and see's what man has built and looks at it like we have to achieve those same heights,..  but when we go out in nature and look at what God has made and just look at the big blue sky, it shows us that it is just us and God and that we can achieve all things.

 I love how much nature can bring us closer to our Father above. Look at the many amazing things around you. They are all Gods creations. We are Gods creation. God created us in His own image. He has also created a plan for us. A perfect plan that allows you and I to return back to His presence. It is so simple, but so marvelous. He has given us a way to know His plan and it is through a living prophet. Each prophet tells us how we can achieve eternal glory. I am so honored that I am able to go out and proclaim this message each day. I know that when I go home I won’t stop sharing it either. This message is too sweet not to share.

I love my Father above; I am so grateful that He sent me to the Churchville YSA area to be able to learn more about Him through His children.

I love each and everyone of you.

Love,

Sister Gillins

Thank you Jimmy for the bracelet! I love it and I love supporting the Canadian colors!

My cousin Jimmy made me a Colors of Canada bracelet!
I love It!

Cherry's are delicious and cute!

To start off this week… we played volleyball for Family Home Evening! And guess who got hit the face with the ball? Me! Its okay though, it happens all the time when your name is Sister Gillins.. :) Anyways, that was a blast, mostly because we played in our skirts! And we still dominated! :D

Most of our teaching appointments this week worked out like this….. people have too many questions and sisters that don’t have enough time to answer! But they were still wonderful. Young people do have a lot of questions and they are good questions. But it is so hard to answer all of them when we only have about an hour to teach. But one of my favorite things is just making them hold there questions till the end and see if what we taught them answered their questions. Most of the time it does! It is so wonderful to teach people the restoration or the plan of salvation and seeing how much sense it makes to them when they see the big picture!

We had car problems again this week... not really problems, just that we didn’t have a car for 2 1/2 days.. and if you saw how massive our area is, you would understand how you can’t function without a car. But we improvised! We walked about 5 k's to the nearest University and just oym'ed (open your mouth) or (street contacting) all night. It was really fun! Sister Droge had a goal of talking to at least 30 people this past week by herself and she was able to pass that by talking to 32 just in that night! She is such a hard worker and so brave! I didn’t dare talk to people my 3rd week in the mission!!

This week Cherry Mae was baptized!! She is so adorable!! In one of our lessons with her she told us that she was ready to be baptized and it all went from there!! She has such a love for God and Christ and you can see it in her face and in her actions. Her baptism went well, but there were a couple spiders floating in the font, so I went fishing! No worries she was baptized spider free!! :)

Baptisms are one of my most favorite things about being on a mission. Watching people come closer to God is such an amazing experience. I know that when we follow the example of our Elder Brother and are baptized just like He was by the proper priesthood authority, we will receive more blessings then we can ever imagine. I know our Heavenly Father is looking down and is so pleased with those who enter into the waters of baptism and make that sacred covenant with Him. I know God lives and loves us and being baptized is how we can show Him we love Him too!!

Love,

Sister Gillins

I know my smile is always huge! But I love YSA so much!!
Cherry Mae's Baptism

I'm eating a burrito! Another mission miracle! 

Matchy Matchy!
Our District at Zone Conference 

Chicken Feet and Pig Tails

I think I am getting a hang of the Toronto traffic! I don’t hit it as much and I actually get off on the right exits now! :) My driving has improved so much! I think I will become a professional race car driver when I get home. I think I could find success in that profession.

We have had so much time to find this week and I have been loving every minute of it! I used to dread having to talk to random people on the street but now I am so excited for it. A lot of people I talk to aren’t as excited as I am.. But that’s because they don’t understand the importance of this message! This will help them gain eternal life. I have seen how keeping an eternal perspective of everything truly helps in this work. It makes door slams, mean words and people running away from you so worth it.

I have also seen the importance of exact obedience this week.

Missionaries are not allowed to have pets of any kind. Well I saw this cute little toad in the grass. I picked it up and was playing with it. Then I was like hmm.. Let’s call our district leader and see if we can take him home. That very second the frog peed on me!! That little stinker! Now I have a firm testimony that missionaries are not allowed to have pets! :)

I had the pleasure of eating chicken feet and pig tail stew this week. IT was delicious! It didn’t even taste funny! It just had lots of little bones we had to spit out because of the chicken feet. So I want you all to know that if picky Sister Gillins can eat pig tails and chicken feet you all can eat anything!!

I just want to give a shout out to my two best friends! The Karlis! I love both of you and your desire to serve our Father above. Karlie, you are going to kill it in Boston. And Carli, you’re coming to the best mission on earth!! I am so happy you got called to Toronto and get to be with me! I love you both so very much!

I also want to give a shout out to all the YSA in the world. Y'all are awesome. I have gained such a strong love for the young people in the church. They truly want to know the truth. There is so much that happens in the world today and things that distract, but they are so dedicated. I love the people I am working with. The members and non-members. I have so much to learn from all of them!!

Peace and Love from the great white north!!

-Sister Gillins

Chicken Feet.....YUMMY

 

My District Family

Your District becomes your family...
And I have a fun family

Beautiful Toronto Temple

There was a big "bump" in the Road

So I got the cutest new companion everyone! You would be so jealous!! Her name is Sister Droge!! Don’t ask me how you say it because I can’t. She is from Germany! She was "fresh off the plane" on Monday. And she is one of the most prepared little missionaries I have ever seen!

We got off on a rocky start though. We got in a small car accident. Nothing major though! And Sister Gillins is a good driver! Totally not her fault. You would know what I mean if you saw Toronto traffic. But all is well and we are safe! :)

So Sister Droge and I are missionaries in Churchville YSA. We cover 2 zones. So that is more than 5 cities. Our area is HUGE! But it is wonderful!! We have such amazing ward members. Everyone has such an amazing story! and YSA are the best! They have some of the strongest testimonies and they just want to learn! They soak up so much!!

We were able to see our friend Joe get baptized this week. His brother Jimmy baptized him. Jimmy has only been a member for about a month, so it was really amazing to see. It was probably one of the most spiritual baptisms I was able to see. The spirit was so strong.

So Sister Droge is awesome! We have an investigator who is so ready to get baptized but she is having a hard time giving up coffee, so Sister Droge was like.. “ well I love peanut butter, I eat peanut butter every day! What if I don’t eat peanut butter and you don’t drink coffee and if we both do it then there will be a surprise at the end.” Well I had to get in on this deal, so for this week I will not drink hot chocolate, which will be hard cause that is my breakfast every morning. But it is totally worth it if she gives up coffee!!

Missionary Work is the bomb!!

Love,
Sister Gillins

We are the bestest of pals!

Sister Droge, the cutest trainee ever!

Joe and Jimmy are awesome.
 I'm a little excited as you can see  (;