Ok I am a little behind on updates...oops :)

Letter from 12/9/2013

Brrrrrrrrr. What a freezing cold week! Tuesday it snowed about six inches, and since then it really hasn't heated up to more than 20 degrees. Most of the time during the day its about 2 or 3 degrees outside. No bueno!

This is going to be a pretty short letter because I honestly cannot remember much on what happened this past week lol. I think the snow has taken over my mind. 

 

So Tuesday night we borrowed a couple of snow shovels, and went with the elders to clear some houses. It wasn't a lot of fun for me since I didn't have snow boots at the time, so it was super duper cold, but that's okay, the look of appreciation on the elderly people we helped made it all worth it. The next day though I went straight to Kohls so I can get some boots. They were even half off! Score :) 

 

Mom, I got your Christmas tree that you sent me three days ago. Thank you sooo much! I love it :) Now we have one in our study room, and one in my bedroom, so it's perfect. 

 

 

Wednesday at district meeting I gave my first training. Normally our district leader trains us, but he asked me to do it instead. I was really nervous, because you know how much I hate speaking in front of a lot of people, but I think I did pretty good. I was asked to train on how to do daily/weekly planning. At first I thought it was going to be a lame topic, but I talked a lot on how to align our will with His,  and that we need to prayerfully plan, since this is Heavenly Fathers work, and we need to include Him in it. The spirit was really strong in the room, and I think everyone, including myself, took a lot from it. 

 

Today is zone pday, and so all the missionaries are going to go bowling. Hopefully I don't suck too bad and remember some of the things I learned in bowling club freshmen year!

 

Is the house all ready for Christmas? And have you started your baking frenzy yet? Feel free to send some over my way if you want them out of the house :)

 

Love Sister Cannon

Letter as of 12/17/2013 transfers were on 12/16

Hello from Parker CO!

This has been an INSANELY busy week. So by Friday night we taught 29 lessons. I know, its pretty insane.

 And then Saturday morning on the way to the dentists so that  S. Sprague can get a root canal we got a call from Elder Pratt, the housing coordinator for the CDNM, and he told us that in 3 hours he would bring the moving van because we were moving across the city to commerce city. So we had to rush home after the dentist and pack in like 3 seconds. We moved to a super cute apartment in a very ghetto area. :) That took most of the day, so we only were able to teach two lessons Saturday, unfortunately. We normally get like 6 or 7.

 

Saturday night was Transfer Doctrine, and I found out I'm getting transferred to Parker CO. My new companion is S. Mall, and she seriously is the nicest person ever. oh, and I'm serving in the YSA ward :) I asked President if I could get transferred to a small ward, and now I'm covering an entire stake. He sure has a funny sense of humor.. But that's okay I already LOVE it here.

 

We went to FHE last night and everyone is so nice and welcoming. Its so cool to serve people my age, instead of old 70 y/o men. I can tell this is going to be my favorite area and my favorite companion. The area I serve is completely beautiful, not to mention very rich.

 

Some completely amazing news: I GET TO SKYPE HOME ON CHRISTMAS :) :) :) :) Because of the mass amounts of calls/emails from angry moms the missionary committee and President relented and is allowed us to Skype for 40 minutes.  I'm so excited to see everyone! It should be around 11 am MST roughly. I'll have the member coordinate with you later in the week hopefully.

 

I love you all so much and I hope everything is going well back home. :)

Love, Sis. Cannon <3

 

Sister Cannon was very busy on Tuesday so she didn't have time for a lot of writing. We emailed her back after receiving this letter and she had to run for an appointment so we didn't get to "chat" back and fourth through the email like we normally do...

SORRY I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO UPDATE THE LAST 3 WEEKS, IT WAS COMING UP WITH AN ERROR AND NOT ALLOWING ME TO POST :(  I will add pictures next time since I am once again having issues :(
 

Letter from 12/20/2013

Merry Christmas from Parker, CO!

I cant believe Christmas is in two days, how crazy! 

 

So I absolutely love my new area. Its wonderful :) I love being able to serve people my own age. Its also weird at the same time, but thats okay. Our ward mission leader is only 24, but he looks 18. He is the goofiest kid I've ever met, but has a strong love for the work. Problem is, he has a bajillion "squirrel moments" every time we meet with him.

 

So on Wednesday we had a super awesome Christmas Devotional. It was very interesting- definitely took a different approach. Brother Handy spoke (LDS Employment specialist for like 14 states) He is a archaeologist, and hes gone all over the world digging sites. He gave this amazing presentation on Christ visiting the americas, and how the proof is shown through ancient Mayan artifacts, and how the Book of Mormon goes right along with everything they were uncovering. It was so cool! Which you could have been there :)

 

Saturday night we were asked to sing for the Christmas program on sunday. I love last second invitations. So the sisters in the ward got together, and we sang Picture a Christmas, from the childrens hand book. It actually sounded really good! The angels were definitely helping us out since we had no time to practice.

 

So I think I forgot to mention this last time, but our YSA ward covers two stakes- but the other stake that Sister Mall and I don't cover is actually in the Colorado Springs mission. So the other set of sister missionaries in our ward is from another mission. Its weird, we have to cross mission boundaries all the time, which we normally are not allowed to do. Its really interesting to talk to the "foreign" missionaries- their mission rules are so different from ours. Like they can listen to disney music on Pday, watch disney movies on christmas, at night if their apointments fall through they are not allowed to knock doors, they have to head home and do studies. Its weird- glad i'm in the CDNM!

 

I'm really excited for Christmas. Cant wait to skype everyone :) I love you all soo much, thanks for all the support and the love- definitely felt and appreciated :)

 

Love Sis Cannon

 

 

 

Letter from 12/30/2013

HELLLLLOOOOOOOOO. :)

Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas- it was so great to be able to see everyone!

Its been a great week-

 

On Monday for Pday we got permission to watch a movie- so the sisters in the zone gathered together and watched UP :) I forgot how funny that movie was! A lot of missionary jokes in it actually. "Wow its going to take 800 transfers to get home!" (Russell planning on taking the bus from south America back to home- but its funnier when you think missionary transfers) Lol.

 

Christmas was a lot of fun. In the morning we went to a breakfast and the stake presidents house- he fed all the missionaries in the stake. They are the cutest family- they waited to do all their Christmas traditions until we were there with them. So we watched The Nativity, decorated gingerbread cookies, and pigged out on a lot of food, which is always nice.

 

 Directly after breakfast we went to the Cunningham's so that I could Skype you lovely bunch :) I thought it would be weird at first, but it seemed like yesterday that I saw you all. The Cunningham's fed us a good lunch, and then it was S. Mall's turn to Skype home.

 

Then we went to the YSA Christmas dinner- all the people who didn't have family in the area gathered together. The RS President put it together- and it was a lot of fun. We ate too much food, and then played monopoly. Well, me and S. Mall sat on the sidelines and gave helpful hints since we aren't actually allowed to play :)

 

 After that meal we went over to our ward mission leaders house. We spent the evening with him and his family, and our zone leaders who live with them. They are the coolest family- we played jenga and connect 4, and skid around the house in socks since they just waxed their wood floors :)

 

Our district leader is the sweetest. Because we don't get fed dinner hardly ever since we serve in YSA, he called a couple people in his ward to feed us- so don't worry mom we are getting fed :) We are trying to think of something cute to do to repay him- but unfortunately our creative juices aren't flowing.

 

How was everyone's week?

Love you and miss you!

<3 Sis. Cannon

 

 

Hello from Thornton CO!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving (and a good birthday Dad!)

 

This week was pretty normal/boring, except for Thursday. Me and Sis. Sprague had 5 Thanksgivings.... thats right, 5. And they were all sit down dinners, so we couldnt just grab one or two things to eat at each. It physically hurt to eat by the third meal. Me and Sprague took pictures after every meal. You can see us be super happy at the beginning... and super full and tired by the end of them. 

 

 

 

So some exciting news: we have 5 investigaters set with a bap date. Three of them are in Dec, and two in January. So we have been staying pretty busy trying to teach everyone. This week we had 24 lessons... which is actually lower than normal believe it or not.  :)

 

Transfers are in two weeks. I have a feeling that I'm going to be transferred again. Dad, how many areas did you serve in, can you remember? I'm already on my fourth area, and its only been a little over 3 months. My area right now is so huge that i'm a little overwhelmed, I feel like I dont know the area/ward at all, when last transfer I knew every member by name. Its definately been an adjustment.

 

We talked a little about transfers and this is her reply...

 

Yeah I'm ready to be transferred. There is a lot of people here to teach- which is great- but I don't feel like I know this area at all. We have so many people that we teach that we get to see each person like once every other week - so I don't get to know that at all. I'm used to seeing the same person like 3 times a week. The three wards I served in previously were all small, and I miss that. 

 

This is my reply to her That's because we have always lived in smaller wards and you are more comfortable that way. You are doing great work and the Lord knows where you are needed.

 

Last Monday all the sisters in my zone went shopping. I was proud of myself because I only bought three items lol. Two bottles of lotion, and a really awesome sweatshirt :) I forgot to take a picture of it, but its from forever 21 and has a huge toy story picture on it. Its pretty legit ha-ha. 

 

Today Sprague and I are going to hang out at one of the sisters homes. We are just planning on writing letters home, and just chillaxing, which sounds super nice right about now. 

 

Mom have you decorated the house yet with Christmas? We bought a tree last week thats 3 ft tall (sadly its plastic). The ornaments are blue and silver, and on each ornament we attached a slip of paper, and on it it says one thing we are grateful for. Its actually pretty cute :) 

 

This week is going to be extremely busy. We already have 16 appointments set up, and we normally make like 15 appointments during the week, so this should be fun teaching a bajillion people.

Like I said, i'm planning on writing letters today, so expect something soon in the mail. :)

 

Have a fantabulous week! Love you all lots.

 

Sister Cannon :)

 

I asked her if she needed anything and she replied..

 

Gift cards and music cd's, gift cards to target, WalMart, Chipotle :) Burger King and the like, or just a visa card that is accepted anywhere. I'm not too picky :)

 

GUESS I KNOW WHAT TO SEND HER FOR CHRISTMAS!

Letter as of 11/25/2013

What an insane week. We taught 28 lessons this week, which is such a miracle.

 

Things have been going really good in the Woodglen ward, there is so much work to be done here, I love being able to teach so many people. 

 

John 21 is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. After Christ died, Peter decides he wants to "go a fishing" and bring five other apostles with him. They go out to sea, but catch nothing until a stranger on the shore tell the fishermen to cast their nets on the right side. Doing so, they catch so many fish that there nets start to break. Heading back to shore, Peter recognizes the stranger as Jesus, and rushes to him. Jesus has a fire and fish waiting for them, and pulls Peter aside and asks him if he loves Him more than everything else. Peter replies saying Yes Lord, you know that I love you. Christ then tells him to feed his sheep. He then asks Peter the same question twice more, and Peter replies the same. Christ tells him again that if he loved Him, he would feed His sheep.

 

Luke 22 is my favorite rendition of the denial, because it does mention Peter making eye contact after he denied Christ. 

Luke 22 is my second favorite chapter of the bible actually, because of the Garden scene. I love how it is the only one that mentions an Angel comes to strengthen Christ after he prays. We had a huge training on it actually. As soon as Christ aligned his will with The Father, then he was blessed and strengthened. And we consecrate ourselves fully to Gods will, then we will be blessed as well. 

 

I've been reading the Old Testament every morning. It is so hard to get through. One of my zone leaders gave me some really great advice though- as you read, underline the words of Christ/God because then you pay attention to what he is saying more fully, and you ask yourself why was it so important that he spoke those particular words. Its helped out soooo much, because I couldn't get past all the incest and the like.

 

Every time I read this story I have to ask myself, Do I truly love Him? And if so, how do I show it? 

I've been working a lot on showing my love for Jesus Christ, and Heavenly Father, because I know that is how I will be able to feel His love, and be able to share that love with others. As I've been having problems with my companion, I have been studying a lot of charity/love, and boy do I have a lot to improve on. I know that President has placed me with Sis. Sprague for a reason, and I just have to figure out why. Maybe to learn how to have patience, and how to love someone. 

 

Her Dad asked her if she had any scriptural questions and she replied...

 

I just started Exodus, so I haven't gotten into the extremely heavy stuff yet. I'll let you know if I do have questions.

 

Have you read Jesus the Christ yet? When I first started it I had a hard time because of the writing style, but I absolutely love it now. I'm about 2/3 of the way through, and its amazing on how much I have learned about Christ from it. I read it every morning for about 20 or so minutes.  If you haven't read it- do so!

 

Its been snowing a lot this past week- and its been so cold. I never thought I'd say I miss Seattle weather. Two days ago we built a little snowman with our investigators daughter. Jeremy Dean is a single dad that has the two most adorable kids ever, Emily (7) and Olivia (5). We were tracting his apartment when we saw them all outside playing in the snow, so we decided to play with them. We were in our proselyting clothes, making snowmen, while teaching the restoration. Definitely one of the more interesting lessons I've had :)

 

So two weeks ago, we accidentally left our members plate that we borrowed for cookies at a stake center an hour away. Sis. Compton (age 75) got really mad at us, and told us we needed to get the plate back or else, basically. You know how old people get attached to their stuff... Well anyway we called like 12 people having them search for the plate, since we thought some relief society member brought it home, but no one found it. So today we ended up driving all the way over there, and we looked for two seconds and we found it... I was pretty upset but I was also extremely glad we found it. Just wish we didn't have to waste an hour of our time this morning and a ton of our miles.

 

On Thanksgiving we have 4 dinners... One at 1pm, 3pm, 4pm, and 6pm. I'm going to die from food ha-ha. We tried getting more, but no luck. We can only spend out hour each at a members home, which I'm bummed about because I don't want to proselyte on Thanksgiving. Its pretty hard being away from home for the Holidays, I hate that I'll be gone for 2 thanksgivings, and 2 Christmas's. Who all is coming to the house?

 

 

 

Anywhoooo, I love you all very much, and I hope you have a fantastic week!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Love Sis. Cannon

Letter as of 11/18/2013

 

Hello everyone!

 

What a busy week. We were able to teach 23 lessons this week, and its been such a whirlwind. 

I'm kind of overwhelmed with the amount of work to do in this area. I have met sooo many people, but honestly its hard to remember who I taught and what I taught since its been so crazy. 

 

So instead of working at a food bank, like I did in Westminster, we volunteer at an assisted living home. We facilitate bingo, we help pass out snacks, and we disinfect the bingo chips and cards that get filthy. Helping out with bingo is so incredibly fun, I love it. The residents get so into it, and its hilarious because all they win is a quarter. But I guess when your in a home then you have to find stuff thats exciting for you.

 

It's interesting having a different companion but thats okay, I know that I'll learn a lot from her, and also we do have a lot of success as a companionship. We have the highest amount of lessons in the stake, which is so different from my last area. One pro about Sis. Sprague is that she is very good about getting inside peoples homes. below is a picture of us heading off to an appointment!

 

 

 

 

 

Tonight I'm going on companionship exchanges with the sister training leaders. I'm going to a different area which is great, because I have absolutely no idea how to get around in my area. I love exchanges. I always learn so much from my STL.

 

Yesterday at church we had two investigaters show up, and three less active families show up. That was such a miracle, we were only expecting one investigater and one less active. In this ward the missionaries don't teach gospel principles, which I'm pretty bummed about because when I teach a lesson I'm able to get so much more out of it, since I have to study so much before hand. Our class has a lot of members that come, but not a lot of participation.  

 

Ashley, a 15 y/o we are teaching, is set for baptism on the 14th. She came to church yesterday, and she even brought a friend. She is so golden, I absolutely love her. Every time we teach her, the spirit is so incredibly strong and we always end up in tears. She also went to the youth fireside at the Bishops house yesterday, and she said she loved it, she loved the youth and the message that was shared. We have three investigaters set for baptism in Decemeber, but right now she is the only one who is ready. The other two don't have a huge desire, so we are going to have to reteach some lessons. 

 

I love the opportunity that I can talk to so many people about Jesus Christ. We work in a low income area, and just like Alma realized, they are the best to teach because almost all of them are so humble, and are searching for something.

 

I hope that your week was fantastic! I love you all, and thanks for all the support you give me :)

 

Love, Sister Cannon

Letter as of 11/11/2013

This has been such a great week.

We found 3 new investigators in the Broadlands ward! In addition to the four last week, we now have 8 investigators we are teaching, which is so huge for us.

Miracles have been happening  here in CO.

 

 

So Friday night we found out that Sis. Mataitusi is training a brand new greenie this transfer, and on Saturday I found out that I'm getting transferred to a different stake.

 

 

 

 

                                        Hot Chocolate break for the last time before transfers...

 

Saturday night all the sisters in the zone gathered for an impromptu transfer doctrine. Normally when we find out where everyone is going, we meet together as a stake in the evening, so we can bear our testimonies and say goodbye to everyone. Well our zone leaders decided to just send out a mass voicemail instead, in order to "make our last hour productive". Yeah no thanks. Instead all the sisters met together like I said so we could listen to the voicemail together. Hearing my name be mentioned with moving areas freaked me out, but like I said this area is so great.

 

 

I am now serving in the Denver North Stake, Woodglenn Ward. My new companion is Sis. Rylee Sprague, and she is so great. She is the sweetest person ever, and she made me breakfast this morning while I was in the shower :)

 

The Woodglenn ward is about 6 times larger than my last ward, and we have so much work to do here.  We have around 250 active members, and over 600 less actives. HOLY COW. We also have 12 investigators, with four of them set for baptism. We are so incredibly busy, which I love. 

It was a little scary being transferred, since I've always been in the same district, and same companion, but I can tell I\I'm going to really like this area. 

 

Since we are so busy we teach an average of 25 or so lessons a week.. my last area was like 12. Whooh I love that I'm finally able to teach.

 

 I moved from an area that was super affluent to an area that needs some TLC, so its going to be interesting.

 

 

 

                        

 

                     A picture of 2 of the Laurels that have been going out with us...

  

I hope everyone is doing super well! I miss all of you tons.

 

Love, Sis. Cannon :)