It's been a big week...TRANSFER CALLS! Or, better said, a lack of them. I'm staying for a 6th transfer here in Bayview! I'll have been here for a total of 9 months. I can't think of a single sister who has served that long in one area. Especially without a break in between. Maybe I've set a new record! I'll be here with S.Conor still. Yay! We have so much fun and basically, it's just going to be awesome :) 

I want to share an excerpt of the email I sent to Pres.Clayton this week:
We had the most amazing experience this week! In our nightly planning we felt like we should go tracting in an area we hadn't been to in a long time. The next evening as we were out and about it was nearing 8pm and we had had little noticeable success on the street. But, we kept going. We then knocked on a door and were greeted by a Chinese student who had just arrived to start his first semester at university here in Canada. After saying that we were out and wanted to teach him how to pray, he welcomed us in and then brought his four other roommates into the kitchen to sit down and talk with us. As we taught these five students, all of whom had just barely arrived in Canada, the Spirit filled their house with such strength. Among the group was a Christian, several agnostics, and an atheist. We bore testimony of the power of prayer and then invited them to try. One by one, they went around the table, each taking a turn offering (in all but one case) their first prayer. Watching them talk to their Heavenly Father and feeling the Spirit grow stronger with each prayer was amazing! All five became our new investigators. I may have skipped down the street after the lesson, I was just so happy! But basically, God helped make that happen, there is no way we could have done that on our own. Those students were led to Canada and we in turn were led to them. Who couldn't love being a missionary!I'm a happy missionary, what can I say?

Also, I took time today to read some of the transcript of the broadcast on social media that Elder Bednar gave this past week. WATCH/READ IT NOW! It's so good and has got me super pumped to share the gospel online when I get back. So yeah, I still love Twitter. :) 

Speaking of Twitter, fun news! On Sept. 20th, all the companionships in our mission will be followed for the day by people giving a play-by-play live tweet update on what we are doing. Sort of a "day in the life of a missionary" type thing. All the posts will be followed by a #mormon. So get your Twitter accounts ready and watch what I'm up to! Even better, re-tweet the posts and let the world know what us missionaries are all about! 

Love you all! Stay hip and happenin'!
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹 

Hey all! This is yet again going to be a quickie. We spent a lot of the day down in Chinatown (it was my first time!) and that ate up the whole day. Pics next week. Things are going well. It's been a week of miracles yet again. A lot of realizing just how true the statement that our God is a "fourth-watch God" really  is. He answers our prayers everytime, right at the last second. Uses every second He can to test our faith. To help us grow. I'm so grateful for the way He watches over us and our investigators. He pushes us to be better. I think that may be the best part. 

Hope all is well and that you may see miracles too!

Love,
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹

This is going to be a short post, it's been a CRAZY busy preparation day. Perks of being one of the few areas in your zone with a car: you become a taxi service. But it's fun, lots of opportunities to talk with other missionaries, etc. :)

This week was jam packed with miracles! We had six investigators at church. SIX! And they were all individuals (aka didn't come in a group/weren't families). So that was awesome. We also picked up a former investigator of mine. Running into her was a miracle. We caught her just as she was coming up to her house. If we had run a minute behind or ahead of schedule we wouldn't have had a chance to meet with her. So that's cool :)

Basically, this week has flown by. I can't believe that it is already week 5 of the transfer (transfers are 6 weeks long). Just a few more weeks and I'm in my last one. Crazy.

Hope all is going well! Love you all lots!

<3
Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹

It isn’t as bad as you sometimes think it is.
It all works out. Don’t worry.
I say that to myself every morning.
It will all work out.
Put your trust in God, and move forward with faith and confidence in the future.
The Lord will not forsake us.
He will not forsake us.
If we will put our trust in Him,if we will pray to Him, if we will live worthy of His blessings,
He will hear our prayers.
-Gordon B. Hinkley

Now before that sounds all super downer, I had a really great week! I ran across this poem earlier this week and I loved it because it includes a phrase that became a bit of a catch phrase for me early on on my mission. "It will all work out." It's something I've been learning throughout my mission and something that was reinforced this past week.
Last transfer, changes were made in our mission that opened up our areas, allowing us to work in larger areas and with all of the members of the congregations in which we served. These changes opened up our area immensely and helped our area start to see some amazing growth and progression.
This past week however, we found out that some of the previous changes were being reversed. Needless to say, my first reaction was along the lines of "Oh my goodness! You've got to be kidding me! How can this happen!? What will happen to our area?! What are we going to do!? THE END IS COMING!" Or, at least that's what I was thinking. I was so scared to see our area's progress slow.
Man, did my faith need a good butt-kicking.
In a matter of hours from the time our Zone Leaders broke the news to us we saw miracles. God proceeded to provide us with new investigators through means I previously thought were next to impossible. Goes to show how much I know! It was such a faith building experience, to witness firsthand that God truly will provide. I've been studying this week in the Old Testament and reading about the Israelites in the wilderness. This week, we saw manna.
I am so grateful that God lives. That He loves. He is aware of His children. God's ways are higher than our ways. Often, we can't see the way out. But our Father in Heaven is ever aware of the path before us and what will be for our good. I am so grateful that He is always reaching out to us to help us draw near unto him.

I hope you enjoy this short video!
The Hope of God's Light

Hope you all see miracles this week, I know I have!
Love,Sister Makena Bauss
包爱蕾姐妹