And….the mission ends.

And so it begins.

My last week as a missionary.

Phew. That’s a little overwhelming when I say it like that. Yikes.

I’m kinda going out on a limb here but…any advice? ha…ha.

I was reading some really old emails that talked about my first days in Canada and my MTC experiences…and I was astonished about how much I have grown. I really have found out who I truly am and who I want to be for the rest of…eternity! I have gained a true testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that God is real and that his son, Jesus Christ is our Saviour! Man. If I came on a mission just to learn that, it would have been enough.

I have been so honored to see many souls come unto Christ!

Zelda-March 31, 2013
Emmy-June 29, 2013
Breanna-July 16, 2013
Pedro-November 23,2013
Frank-November 23,2014
Max-January 26, 2014
Janet-February 16,2014
Norm-February 16, 2014
Ethan-March 1, 2014
Shekeya-March 20, 2014
Navi-April 20, 2014

They all have special places in my heart. Eternal friendships have been made, and I do plan on being in their lives forever…unless they don’t want me to be…well…TOO BAD. 🙂 I shall always remember them and their wonderful smiles, personalities, and personal testimonies of Jesus Christ.

I’ve been able to work with the Simcoe Branch, Kitchener-Waterloo Ward, and the Mississauga Ward in the work of Salvation. I’ve been able to make friends that I never would have known before. I am so eternally grateful for them.

I’m grateful for the people that I have met that have rejected the gospel. They helped me grow my testimony and helped me realize exactly why I was on a mission.

I came on a mission to love… To learn how to show people my love, and how to show God that I love him. I learned how to love myself. And most importantly, I learned how to love the Gospel. What a beautiful opportunity that I have had to grow spiritually and emotionally.

I love…everyone! And…believe it or not…I will see you soon!

Love,
Sister Hannah Colvin

The Gift of Wheels

Hey everyone! What a crazy week! 

 

First of all, we received a call from the mission vehicle coordinator earlier this week…this was the dialogue…. 

 

Elder Green: “Sister Colvin and Sister Ormond! I have a present for you!” 

Sister Colvin: “No way, Elder Green! What is it?” 

Elder Green: “It has 4 wheels and drives! I have a car for you!” 

Sister Ormond: “SHUT UP! NO WAY! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?” 

Elder Green: “Excuse me? What?” 

Sister Colvin: “Don’t listen to Sister Ormond! *chuckles* Are you teasing us right now, Elder Green?” 

Elder Green: “Absolutely not. I will have the assistants drive it to you today. I thought of you when we had a car open up. I know that you’ve been having a hard time with the buses lately. So…happy trails! Have a good day!” 

Sister Ormond and Colvin: “THANK YOU, ELDER GREEN!” 

 

And…after that phone call….

Both of Us: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAA! GOD LOVES US! YYYYYEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! HALLELUJAH! AIR CONDITIONING IN A CAR! ALL THE TIME! YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAA! 

 

We then proceeded to dance throughout our apartment, laughing giddily the entire time. It was a very happy day in the life of Sister Hannah Colvin! 

 

We have been really working on making our ESL program more “spiritually friendly” and inviting all of the students there to come to church and to progress in the Gospel. ESL is always such a blast. I really have loved teaching it, especially on this last part of my mission! I feel I am more able to concentrate on what they need and how to help them get that! The craziest quote from Bob, a student at ESL this week was, “What does the word promiscuous mean?” The saddest part? We didn’t even know how to explain it to him…and turned to a 78 year old Indian man, who answered it perfectly. Oh. The Life of a missionary. 🙂

 

We actually don’t have a lot of time today because…we are going to go and play sports with the zone! 

 

I love you all so much! 

 

Love, 

Sister Colvin 

 

9 new investigators!

Hey everyone! 

 

This week has been super awesome! I guess we can start at the beginning! 

 

We had the Spanish Sisters, Hermana Dudley and Hermana Guerra move in with us! They’ve been experiencing some problems with their apartment…and so here they are! It’s just like Kitchener all over again! Except instead of 2 sisters breaking out randomly in Mandarin Chinese…they break out randomly in Spanish! Hermana Dudley went to BYU-I and studied…Music! Vocal Performance! She isn’t going back there when she finishes her mission…but she is a fellow Idahoan! Her family lives in Boise! And her brother worked at Journeys! Crazy Connections! Hermana Guerra is from Peru…and such a fiesty Latina! I love her! I know understand how people from South America really act. Best quote from her: *in a thick Spanish Accent* “Sister…why you leave the bread out? The people will eat it…!” (in reference to me leaving the bread on the counter!) So hilarious. Getting 4 girls ready in the morning within a hour still proves as difficult as ever. 

 

We were blessed to find 9 new investigators this week! That is a huge number and we have been so happy these past few days! The Lord is definitely blessing this area and this companionship! I’ve been really lucky to stay here in this area and see it progress! 

 

Anyways, I love you all! I hope that you have a fantastic week and that you keep enjoying the sunshine! 

 

Love, 

Sister Colvin 

Great week! Finishing the mission in Mississauga!

Hey everyone! 

 

I really have no time to write this week, but suffice it to say that I am happy! 

 

We found out this week that we are both staying in Mississauga! There is so much work to do here, and I am super excited to see it go forward! Nothing much else happened this week besides…

 

I broke my finger…I slammed it under a bench seat. And then I sat on it. Bad news bears. But, at least I can feel it now! 🙂 

 

We bused all week. That was such an adventure…kinda. We got lost 6 times and accidentally bused into Toronto. 

 

All of our investigators dropped us. Oh well. They weren’t ready, I guess. 

 

We ran out of food on Sunday night so we made a concoction of brown rice, soy sauce, black beans, a 2 year-old can of vegetable soup, salsa, and salt. It was probably one of the most disgusting things I have ever eaten in my life. 

 

We went on exchanges this week. I went with Sister Stoddard–a fellow Rexburgian. 

 

We saw Elder Perkins, Sister Burton, Elder Holland, and President Eyring in a special broadcast to all of Canada for Stake Conference. That was really neat! 

 

Sister Ormond rolled down a hill and fell into a gigantic mud puddle. 

 

I seriously could not be more happy right now! And I am so grateful that I can be a missionary. And…I’m not even being sarcastic right now! It’s been a week full of laughs, joy, and really hard work. I love being a missionary! 

 

Love, 

Sister Colvin 

Short and Sweet

Hey everyone! 

 

This week has been a week full of surprises, random stories, and miracles! We had three investigators come to church yesterday! It was awesome. Shekeya (9 year-old recent convert) brought her friends to church yesterday. I love those recent converts…their love for the gospel is really so inspiring! I want to be able to share the gospel with everyone when I get home! I know that I’ve been put in this area at this time to learn specific lessons. God knows me and what I need to learn at specific times. Transfers are next week…and I am super nervous! Hopefully I get to stay, but if not I know it’s where the Lord needs me to be!

 

Love you all!

 

Sister Colvin

Cars, Sketchy Chinese Food, Primary Music and an Investigator at church= Good Week!

Hey everyone! 

 

So…my keyboard on my computer isn`t working so well. Some tabs are missing…and I can`t use the question mark symbol…it looks like this when I do it…éééÉÉÉéééÉÉÉ. So. Ignore the bad grammar and pronunciation. I blame the computer. 🙂 

 

Hm. Where to begin this week…

 

Our car was recalled! Apparently, all of the models of the 2013 Chevy Cruze had something majorly wrong with the front axles. So, knowing that is us, we take it in right before District Meeting because they said it would take about 10 minutes. And…it just happened to be the day that we had the car (2 days out of 7 last week…not bitter though…not bitter). Well…SURPRISE! Our car was the first out of 2 cars in this entire mission (over 100 cars) to get a recall. Apparently…it could have blown up and we could have died! Jokes Jokes. But, really. We then had to go through this crazy process of getting a rental car. Which was an issue. Why…BECAUSE I AM NOT OVER 21 AND THEY ONLY RENT TO PEOPLE OVER 21 BECAUSE APPARENTLY PEOPLE UNDER 21 ARE RECKLESS. Okay. Yea. That ensued the Rental Car Company (Enterprise) calling Elder Green (Car Coordinator for the mission), Church Insurance, Church Headquarters, and many many many more people. After 2.5 hours…they finally rented me a car. Hallelujah. And like…here is the kicker…I was like…I will get to drive a BMW or a Chrysler or something a little bit more fancy, eh…nope. They rented to us a 2014 Chevy Cruze that makes even worse sounds than our 2013. Frustrating to say the least. And we missed District Meeting…and received glares from other missionaries because they thought we skipped out on purpose. Uh. No. I could have much preferred to have read the scriptures in a spiritually uplifting environment…thank you! 😉 

 

On another positive note…heeheehee. There was a little four-year-old girl at church yesterday that was asking all of the little kids if she could give them a hug! All of the little kids said no. And she was about to cry…it was so sad. But then I went up to her and said..“Can I get a hug…“ and she just lit up like a Christmas tree! Threw her little arms around me and told me that she loved me and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She is so freakin`cute. It was heart melting. 

 

We had an investigator come to church. And guess where he is from….wait for it…BRASIL! 😉 He is super awesome and willing to do things to find out if it is true at all. Seriously. He`s super cool. He loved church and he felt the Spirit! We didn`t get to talk to him after church though, because we were busy teaching…PRIMARY MUSIC! 🙂 We had the Primary President come up to Sister Ormond and me directly after Sacrament Meeting and ask us if we can do the Primary Music. uh….sure…she asked me to play the piano…okay! Here we go! And guess what….EVERYTHING worked out! Sister Ormond used to teach Musical Theater to little kids and so she got up there and did her thing, and I got to play the piano. It was awesome! I even sight-read some super hard songs…at least for me…and you could still tell that it was the song that I was playing. God provides. 🙂 

 

So yesterday, we wake up, and give our car to the Chinese Elders. So we were on buses all day. And it was on the Holiday Bus Schedule..which means the buses only come every once in a while. And it was pouring rain.  Sister Ormond got what had to have been food poisoning once again from sketchy chinese Kimchi that we got because it was the only thing we recognized at the ethnic chinese grocery store that the Elders made us shop at last week! And all we wanted was a rotisserie chicken. And everywhere…even Wal-Mart was closed because it was Victoria Day!   Then a crazy chinese woman scratched me with her sharp chinese crazy nails on the bus ride home…what else could I have asked for…É 🙂 

 

Missions define who you are as a person and who you are going to become throughout the rest of your life. You learn to rely on God and his son, Jesus Christ. Even on those hard days, you know your purpose. You are here to find God`s children who are ready to accept the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Crazy things happen every day, but it is how we react that will shape us into the people that we are supposed to be. 

 

Anyways…I better get going. Thanks for listening to my ramblings and craziness. I really do love you all so much! 

 

Love, 

Sister Colvin 

Missionary work while emailing…

So. Guess what. I got to talk to my family yesterday! It was super bittersweet because I won’t see my brother (Adam) for like…ever. But, it was still super awesome to be able to see people’s expressions and see their cute faces! It is so crazy, because I will be home in no time and be able to see them 24/7. Gah. Time is just moving way too fast for me! But, I have come to realize that it is all in God’s timing! Not ours! 🙂 

 

We were blessed this week to find 2 new investigators! Our area has been struggling recently with finding some more people to teach, and these 2 were literally just put into our lap. I was super grateful that we were able to find them. They are really prepared! 

 

Cool story just now! This lady just gestured me over at the library and told me that she  believes in Christ as well! She said she saw my name tag and wanted to ask me more about “my church”. So….what do I do? Just share the whole restoration with her. She told me that she is a staunch catholic and that she will never change, but she loves reading and studying more of the word of God. Book of Mormon anyone? Anyways, it was just really neat to be able to share my testimony with her. Man. Missions are really just so cool. 

 

Anyways, I better run. Just know that I love you all so much! Keep strong, happy, and smiling! Love you! 

 

Sister Colvin 

Mission Brain

Okay. Sorry for the lack of blog post last week. It was actually a pretty funny moment. We were driving on our way to Toronto to go and play sports with our zone….when all of a sudden…I said “ACK! I didn’t write a post. My parents are going to kill me!” YIKES! My apologies. There is something that is a legitimate thing called “a mission brain” where you seem to forget what you need to do and how to do it. Sorry! 

 

Let me tell you about my companion! Her name is Sister Ormond. She is from Salem, Utah! And she is so much fun! We get along really well, and totally have a lot of things in common. She used to do musical theater, and so we seem to always be breaking out into random harmony. It’s quite fun. I love her a lot!

 

Also, I found out this week that I will be released from being a missionary on July 16, 2014! How crazy is that!? Time just seems to fly by. Honestly? I just feel like I was set apart like…yesterday? It is so weird. I’m just going to work hard and continue to do what the Lord wants me to do! 🙂

 

I am so sorry for the short blog post…but I have WAY too much on my mind today to form some complete sentences. 🙂

 

I love you all!

 

Love,

Sister Colvin

Pride and the Canadian Bus System

Dearest family and friends, 

 

Here’s a funny story. You ready? Okay! 

 

As you all know, transfer calls were last night. We didn’t get a call. We were SO happy. Everything was going to be awesome, we set some pretty legit transfer goals, and we were PUMPED! We were sitting in companionship study this morning…and we get a text message. It was the Assistants to the President…giving us our travel plans. What?! We weren’t being transferred…right? Turns out that they had forgotten to call us and that we were having some transfer movement. I was so frustrated and upset…but then I got over it really quickly. What else could I do, right? So the news is…Sister Rogers is leaving! She will be going to Hamilton Mountain West and I will be staying in Mississauga South. Sister Ormond will be coming here. It should be a good transfer. It’s just been a super stress-filled morning of uncertainty. Oh well. It will be more calm soon. 

 

Navraj was baptized on Sunday! Her story has truly filled me with hope in God’s plan for each of us. It truly has been a blessing to have labored with her in her journey to be baptized by someone holding the real priesthood on the earth. Whoa. I think I’m starting to sound kinda like an intense missionary. haha. Sorry! 🙂 

 

Let me tell you about the bus system and my pride. Seriously…the Lord is trying to humble me. I wore heels yesterday (for the baptism) and didn’t realize that we wouldn’t be going home until 9PM at night. And the buses were on the holiday/Sunday schedule…which means they do not come as often. My feet were KILLING me and it was really cold (and I didn’t have a coat). And now, (this is where my pride comes in) Sister Rogers wanted to call the Chinese Elders (Elder Mangum and Elder Lee) to come and give us a ride home. I said “No. We are big girls. We can figure this out on our own.” Sister Rogers was like, “Okay…can I call Navraj?” and of course I said yes…but she really called the Elders. And they came and picked us up…and rescued us from the craziness of downtown Mississauga. They are awesome. Seriously. But, I also learned that pride and the bus system…do NOT go together. 

 

We are also teaching a super stubborn old man named Patrick. He has met with missionaries for YEARS and hasn’t really made any progress until…we started to meet with him! He admitted this week that Joseph Smith…*might* have been a Prophet of God. Haha. Miracles happen. 

 

Food of the Week: Indian Samosas…they are DELICIOUS! 

 

Quote of the Week: “The Haka? It’s like the hula…for guys!” -Sister Colvin “Portuguese…is a really different country!” -Sister Rogers 

 

Anyways, I love you all this week and I hope that you enjoy this beautiful weather! Love you! 

 

Sister Colvin 

Navi’s Miracle

HELLO!

 

Are you ready for a story?

 

This weekend has been the most dramatic weekend of my mission.

 

Let me explain. I hope I can explain it smooth enough to follow. 

 

Pre-information: To be divorced in Canada you need to…be separated for an entire  year from your former spouse.THEN you are allowed fill out piles of divorce paperwork as usual..and then both parties sign it and then it goes into the courts and it is a “waiting game” to have it be officially notarized by the government. Process time: about 2 years. 

 

Navi was introduced to the gospel by her boyfriend Jacob (returned missionary). She is also divorced…or at least she has been 1. separated for an entire year 2. filled out ALL the paperwork 3. both parties have signed and she is waiting for the “stamp” to make it completely official. We told this information to the district leader to go to the zone leader to go to the assistants to go to the President (the process) to get approval for her to STILL keep dating her boyfriend because she is legally not married but just has no stamp.

 

Saturday: We were told by the Zone Leaders very blatantly that Navi could not date her boyfriend because her divorce was not “final”… They said her options were to 1. break up with her boyfriend for 6 months until the divorce has the stamp or 2. carry on with the church. Sister Rogers and I thought “Well that’s dumb that she would have to break up with him.” We did not feel right in calling her,had no peace/closure whatsoever, and could not tell her to do something like that when we did not believe it ourselves.

 

So after gathering up as much courage as we could- which included crying from fear on Sister Rogers part- we decided to call the President directly…In the Canada Toronto Mission there are 300 missionaries. Not following the chain of command is NOT a good idea. We ended up talking to him for 30 minutes that night. We felt much better after and we felt at peace for calling her about the situation. 

 

Navi was very understanding. She was disappointed but she said that it meant more to continue with the church. We were shocked. She was already planning to go to the states the next day to see him so she said she would talk to him in person about it. 

 

They are thinking about getting sealed in the temple eventually so we were pretty scared.

 

Sunday: Sister Rogers and I decided to fast for her papers to go through. 

 

So… we called Navi with her boyfriend there- he was peeved. They explained the situation with more detail and on one hand they were kind and understanding. They explained that if it was necessary for them to hold off on their relationship for that long then they would, but they would prefer not to. On the other end, they would not take a simple no which we totally understood how they felt because it was those feelings that made us jump to calling president Scott directly. So we felt that they needed the same closure….

 

……so what did we do? yikes. We gave them the Presidents phone number. Although it went against all protocol- we felt they needed to hear it from him. We were terrified but loved her enough to do so. Navi ended up having 2 conversations with him where he interviewed her a little bit, understood her sincerity and honesty, and heartfelt desire to do the right thing- and realizing then that both parties had signed the papers and it was in the courthouse………. HE SAID SHE WAS OK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!And that she could date her boyfriend, still. And he also was not mad at us. Hallelujah. Praise be. 

 

President Scott will make exceptions sometimes for things, but never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever for the Law of Chastity. This was an ultimate exception and I can not write in words my gratitude for the Lord in answering our fast and prayers. BLOWS MY MIND. Navi recognized how much we had to fight and the courage we had to let her talk to the President herself. but it was alllll worth it 🙂 

 

You can see how prepared Navi already was by being separated for that year and the papers in the court house. When Heavenly Father wants someone to get baptized…he totally makes that happen. 

 

Crazy weekend. MIRACLES HAPPEN! Navi will be baptized on Easter, this Sunday! 

 

Nothing much else is happening in Mississauga. We are (enjoying?) the bus systems…and finding our way around. 

 

Transfers are next week! Can you even believe that 6 weeks has already come and gone? Life definitely goes by fast. 

 

I love you all! Happy Easter! 

 

Love, 

Sister Colvin