New haircut, new me!

Boohzoo everyone! I got a new do this week! My companion cut my hair for me....and then I made the mistake of trying to even out my layer that had a bunch of dead in it...so now I have to weird layers and some short hair! At least it's even though, right??  Ahem....anyways, this week hasn't been too bad, we saw a bunch of miracles! We were tracking a whole road and got 2 new people, and a super solid potential! Then we got 2 more people the rest of the week! Also, we have 3 baptismal dates, one of which is for this weekend, April 27th. Please pray for Selena! We just know that she is gonna be baptized this weekend! 

I have never seen so much wildlife in my wild life! (See what I did there? I hope someone else thinks I am as funny as I do). This week, I saw 2 beavers, one dead and one alive, the dead one was getting eaten by vultures, so I saw 6 vultures too. I have seen a bagillion seagulls and almost as many deer and rabbits! 

Speaking of dead things, I have a cold, so this email won't be very long. My whole body is hurting as I sit here, and I can't breathe. Nevertheless, I will keep writing! I hope you all enjoyed your Easter Sunday as much as I did. I was so happy to finally take the sacrament again. I haven't had it in two weeks! The talks in church were good! Well...one of them...the first was good, the second had nothing to do with Easter and everything to do with deep deep doctrine...it was wild! And it was hard to enjoy because there was a whining child in front of us that seriously needed a talking to....all I can say is that if I ever acted that way in church...Heaven save me. 

Anyways, I am sorry this email is so scattered, I barely know what I am typing, but I DO know this. Our Savior, Jesus Christ lives. He came to this earth to teach us how to make it back to our Heavenly Father, and receive the gifts we have waiting for us. I know that because of Him, we all can be forgiven of our wrongs, our shortcomings, our mistakes, and our weaknesses. We can be cleansed, healed, made whole, comforted, and we can live again. All because Jesus Christ suffered, bled, was crucified, and rose from the dead on the third day. I know in my heart and with every fiber of my being that Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten of our Father in Heaven, our Brother, our Friend, our Light in the Darkness, and the only way to Eternal Life. I know that He willingly did ALL that His Father asked of Him so that ALL could receive mercy at the judgement bar, and eternal life. I know that God loves each and every one of us, and I am so thankful that He has given me such an amazing life among people I love, who I know love me. I love you all and I ask you this week to thank God for sending His Son,and for the life you have. I know times are hard, I know this world is dark and scary....so look to the One who gives us peace, and light, and hope. Hold on, and endure to the end. I testify that this church is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. I know that the Prophet we have today is called of God, as are His Apostles and other general authorities. I know God lives, and He loves you. He knows you, and wants to hear from you. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I am thankful to be here on this mission to have the opportunity to share this Gospel with others. I know and say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Have a great week everyone.

Love, Sister Michaela Talbot

"Spring is sprung, the grass is riz, but I don't know where the flowers is..."

 Boozhoo everyone!! (That is hello in Ojibwe!) 

   

     I hope you are all having a wonderful week! This week has seemed to last all month and then today I looked at the calendar and oh my goodness,it's almost May! How crazy! We had district conference on Saturday and Sunday and it was so good! Our mission president basically called all the members out, it was great! He did so lovingly, however, so hopefully we see some changes happen in the branches! Also, Selena, one of the people we are hoping will be baptized was at District Conference!!!! It was awesome! The meetings were so good, it was great!

 

This week has been kinda weird. We've had lots of meetings....it's been a long one for sure. BUT! We saw some pretty cool miracles! First, this lady we have been trying to meet with forever, Sheila, is never home and never answers her phone, so we went to her house again, and she answered the door! We were able to have a super spiritual lesson with her. She is such a wonderful lady, she is just going through some really hard stuff. Then, we were able to find 2 new people this week! It was great! We gave one of them a Book of Mormon and she said she would read it, so that was awesome as well! Then, we went to another street, and knocked on a door. The lady answered, we introduced ourselves, and she got kinda mad and slammed the door in our face! It was kinda funny honestly. It's happened before, but I just wasn't expecting it to be that rudely done! 

 Oh yeah, to explain my subject line, that was something that Chuck, one of the members here said while we were at his and his wife's house for dinner. We saw a bunch of swans flying by because their house is next to the Little Grassy River. He was telling us a story about how one time last year, a swan flew into the power line and fried so when it fell on the ground, it looked like a pile of snow. It's terrible, but still a little funny! 

I am so excited for Easter! This week, I want you all to watch one of the two videos I am sending (ChurchofJesusChrist.org, Because of Him) and then share them on social media, and with the first person that comes to mind! When you do, talk to them more about the Gospel. Invite them to church, invite them to read the Book of Mormon. Invite them to do SOMETHING! And then follow up! (And then tell me about your experiences, because I would love to hear them!) District Conference really talked a lot this week about how we should "live the Gospel out loud"! Don't take out the Church parts of your stories when someone asks you what you did this weekend. Tell them! Share the Gospel with everyone! 

I know that this Church is true, and I am so thankful for the time that we have to ponder what the Savior has done for us. I know that Jesus Christ died for us and that He broke the bands of death so that we too could live again. I know that it is because of Him that I am here, and because of Him, we can all be forgiven. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I encourage you all to study and ponder it. I am so grateful for the things the Lord has blessed me with, and I know He loves each and every one of us. I know Jesus Christ lives, and that He is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, and I know that He knows each one of us, His sheep, by name, and I say these things in the sacred name of our Shepherd, our Healer, and our Master, Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week! 

Love, Sister Talbot

3 Nephites and a bunch of skunks!

  Hello everyone! I apologize, I don't have a lot of time to write a big email, so this will be short. To get you all excited, we have 3 baptismal dates!!!! We have also seen lots of miracles this week.         But to explain the subject line, a less active lady we are teaching was telling us about how before her family came to the mainland, (this is before she was born), they used to live out on an island on the lake. Well one day, these three men in suits came to her family with "their books" and told them all about the gospel, speaking the language perfectly! Her family accepted it, and they were all baptized. Well, when the 3 men left, there were no tracks or any trace of them anywhere. It was like they'd vanished into thin air. Sister Blaine and I both got chills and told her about the three Nephites and who they were. We were all kind of amazed, but how awesome is that?!?!? THE GOSPEL, ESPECIALLY THE BOOK OF MORMON IS SO TRUE! The First Nations also have so many things they do in their culture that are similar to the gospel, especially the endowment! It's pretty cool. To explain the skunk part............I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY SKUNKS IN MY LIFE  We almost hit one last night! We were going to go see a former and we had to take an old highway. It was getting dark and it was really really foggy so we had to turn around and head home, but it was really cool. We saw so many deer! Took some cool pictures too!

   Also, a cool miracle from this week was that we had little less than an hour to find one new person so we prayed about it and both thought of the same street. So we went there, and none of the houses we knocked on, answered. So as we were walking down the street, I looked over and saw cars at a house and I thought it was a really pretty house! So I told Sister Blaine we should go knock on the door. So we did, and ended up meeting a younger guy who has a young family and an adorable little boy, who is not biased against the Church, and was really open to us coming back! After we talked to him, it was time to go. It was so cool! 

   Also, can we talk about how amazing and very spiritual conference was????? WOW! I loved every second of it! I hope you all took notes because we all got called to serious repentance. AHH! 

I love this gospel and I am so grateful to be a part of it. I know Jesus Christ lives and that He died for our sins. I know that as we open our hearts to Him, we will be transformed into new creatures, and become wonderful instruments in God's hands. I know that through repentance, we will all receive the blessings God has in store for us! I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that by studying and pondering it, we will draw nearer to God and we will align our will with His. I know these things are true, and I bear witness that this is God's true church on the earth today. I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

Love, Sister Talbot

"Are you Native?"

 Hello everyone! How was your week? Mine was good. We had all sorts of great experiences this week. We had a huge  breakthrough with a lady that is less active. She kind of ripped Sister Blaine's head off last time we talked with her, she got a priesthood blessing from a member and afterwards we had a super spiritual lesson with her, it was amazing!

 On Fridays, we do our weekly planning and done go out until about 4. So we went to Big Island to get in contact with some people. No one was really answering us, so we went back to the car to go to Big Grassy, but when we got to the car we felt strongly that we weren't meant to leave yet. There was someone that we needed to talk to. We went to a house of a lady we haven't been able to get with, but we had talked with her son on Facebook. When we knocked, he answered, and was surprised to see us. We had explained the rules of fellowship in our Facebook conversations with him so he told us no one was home so we just stood in the doorway and talked for a bit. I don't know how but the conversation turned to where we are from and things of that nature, and then he looks at me and goes "Are you Native?" I mentally rolled my eyes because I get asked about my ethnicity ALOT, but it was fine. Then it got funnier when he asked how old we were. Eventually we got talking about the gospel and I asked if he had a Book of Mormon. He said he had one, but not sure where. So we gave him a new one and marked a chapter for him to read. I bore my testimony to him and I could feel his guard come down. Later that night we went to a referral from a member, and gave them a Book of Mormon too. It was so cool!

 The next day, we were knocking on the door of a lady we were planning on seeing but she was not there. We knocked on the neighbors next door, a guy answered, and talked for a minute and sat back down, for privacy reasons, I won't go into details, but while Sister Blaine was talking, and gave him a Book of Mormon, I think Heavenly Father allowed me to feel His love for this man and it was so powerful. It was really sad but in sight of things, I really appreciated it.

 So one last thing before I go, in my studies this week, in the Come, Follow Me, one of the stories was about the Father who asked the apostles to heal his son, but the couldn't. So he went to the Savior and asked Him to heal his son. The Savior asked the man if he believed that He could heal the man's son. The man said, "Lord, I believe; Help thou mine unbelief." This man was so desperate for the Savior to save his son, that he held on to the little faith he had left, and asked the Savior to heal his son. This talk by Jeffery R. Holland is so powerful. I want you all to take the time to listen to it. Build your faith this week. Go to the Lord and ask Him to help you put aside your doubts. I know that as you do, you will really start to see your faith grow and grow.  Lord, I Believe--Jeffery R. Holland

 I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love, Sister Talbot