Happy Week :)

Well.... there goes another week already!  Tomorrow is April and today the weather actually feels a bit like Spring! Unfortunately I think it is supposed to get cold again for the rest of the week but... we are going to enjoy this good weather while we can. :)

Snow and it's almost April.... :(‏

This week was another good one, as usual! :) 

Saturday we had the opportunity to go to the Temple. We had to wake up super early and drive there, but it was totally worth it! :) It has been a year since I have been able to go so it was really nice to be back there again. It makes me realize how grateful that I should be to have so many temples around me in Utah. Growing up with it, it seems like the normal thing, but then to be here and see that most people have to travel an hour or so to get to the temple I realize how truly blessed I am to have so many temples so close. And then not being able to go for a year also helps me to see that I need to go often when I get home. I think a lot of people know the temple is there and know that they can go at any time so they put off going.  It is always important to remember to go... even if we feel like we are busy or don't have time. That is one thing that I have learned not being able to go to the temple. :) 

Outside the Temple

     Elder Healey and I‏

           Elder Prochnow and I

Sister Puruganan and I 

We have also been talking A LOT about Family History work in this ward and the ward is getting really excited about finding family names and taking them to the temple so that they can perform those ordinances for their ancestors. Family History work is something that seems to be a big focus of the Church lately... so.... go do some family history, kids! You won't regret it! :)

In front of our Chapel 

Sister Fragapane and I even did the sharing time in Primary yesterday and taught the kids about Family History... It really is for everyone to do, and I think that is pretty exciting.

Saturday night was the General Women's Meeting and we got together with some of the Sisters in the ward and watched it at the chapel.  The meeting was really good... I would suggest watching it if you haven't already. There are some really good musical numbers in it and it is super powerful. The main message that I got out of it is that as sisters in the Gospel... young and old,  we  need to be united in our purpose. They also talked a lot about how age isn't a barrier, and I think I have really come to learn that on my mission. I sit in church here on Sundays and look around and see all of the friends I have made and realize they all are different ages. I feel like I am as good as friends with Sister Young who is in her 80's as I am with Audrey who is 4 years old, as well as all of the other sisters in between. And I love it... I have met so many amazing people who have influenced my life and they are all of different ages and have different stories.  Anyway.. I just thought that was a pretty cool thing that I learned and.... now I am just super pumped for General Conference this weekend. :)

So crazy to think that I was in this area 6 months ago when General Conference came around and now I am here again! :) For what will be the last General Conference that I will have on my mission! Pretty excited for it... after listening to Elder Bednar two weekends ago, the Temple and Women's meeting this past weekend, I am good to go for General Conference which I still claim to think that for missionaries General Conference is like the Super Bowl. haha 

Bishop Pockett shared this quote From Elder Holland with us yesterday at church that he got from the LDS.ORG website....

" If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.” —Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

And I know that is something that is so true... So... everyone watch General Conference this weekend and listen for those things that will be answers to your specific questions. Conference really is such a great opportunity to learn the things that we need in our lives. :)

Things are great here! Amanda, Janet's daughter, should be getting baptized April 13th and Janet's other daughter Treena was baptized yesterday in another ward. Pretty incredible, and I am so thankful that I am able to be a part of it. :)

I hope that everyone has a great week!   (More pics below )

On our way to Brother and Sister Sellar's house.... Sister Fragapane's first experience with the Mennonites, she was pretty excited. She tried to get a picture of the horse and buggy but she ended up just getting the horse.. still a pretty cool picture

We went to visit Anne with Sara and we thought it would be a good idea to walk through this puddle because we were all wearing rainboots.. well turns out both Sister Fragapane and I have holes in our boots... 

Anne is like 78 I think, and getting an Ipad, so look at the book that she has started to read.. I told her she has to get a Facebook now so that we can keep in touch easier after I get home

At P-day last week

Elder Parker, Sister Mak, Sister Hsuing, Me, Sister Fragapane, Elder Koceja, 
Elder De Wall and Elder Prochnow

We wanted to plan some sort of party and it is happening!
We are going to have an Easter Brunch on Good Friday. We were at the Olsen's making the poster and the invitations and stuff to advertise for it. 

You two must be angels !

And..... there goes another week here in mission land! And good news everyone... KARLY PALOOZA begins today!! For those of you who are not aware of "Karly Palooza" I will fill you in on the details... Basically it is a week long celebration up until my birthday on the 19th. So everyday I will try to do something fun to celebrate and I invite everyone else to do fun things for this week and you can go ahead and use the excuse that it is Karly Palooza! So go ahead... go crazy! :)

 Me, Elder Ikeda, Elder Healey and Sister Colvin before the Elders moved last Monday. The Elder in front is Elder So'o... he is my new district leader. I will have to get a better picture of him at some point. haha

This week we had a pretty cool service opportunity. We were walking to an appointment and were just planning on doing some finding up until the time of the appointment. As we were walking I looked across the street and I see this old couple and in front of them a HUGE pile of chopped wood that had just been dumped in their drive way... We kept walking for a bit but then I just felt that we REALLY needed to go help them. We went over and started talking to them and asked if we could help. They were a little hesitant but eventually let us.

They were the sweetest couple. Both of them are 90 years old and they were just planning on moving that big pile of wood!   I was not about to let that happen so we stayed and helped them for an hour. The cute lady after a few minutes said, "You two must be angels!" I just had to laugh... we are not exactly angels, but we are probably the closest thing to that at this point as missionaries. The woman also said that she has seen Elders from our church but they never offered to help with anything. I told her that is probably because she didn't have a huge pile of wood in the middle of her driveway. :) She insisted on feeding us lunch, but we had to leave so we will be going back soon to take her up on that. She said that they always enjoyed talking with the missionaries so hopefully we will have the opportunity to share the Gospel with them. It is amazing how many incredible people are out there and yet we miss their stories because we don't talk to them. I love being a missionary and being able to walk up to anyone and find out about them!

Elder Kopischke

This weekend was Stake Conference in the Kitchener Stake and they reorganized the Stake Presidency so we had a General Authority here which was sweet. Elder Kopischke of the Seventy came and led a discussion on Saturday night and then spoke Sunday. He is a really good speaker. Sunday he talked about "Remembering" in honor of Remembrance Day that was Monday. He basically said that if we are not remembering to live the Gospel or remembering our testimonies then we are forgetting so we always have to remember. Before the session on Sunday he was walking around shaking peoples hands and we just so happened to be sitting in a place to get a handshake and he said, "Missionaries!" So... I am practically famous? haha I have met SO many great people here in this mission life. That is now 2 General Authorities... that is 2 more than I ever met while living in Utah. haha

Well it snowed and actually stuck so that is lovely. It is also freezing. We are also getting a lot more dinner appointments lately... I seem to have that effect on people. :) That, or I am the biggest mooch in town. haha either way.. I love dinner appointments. :)

Well I think that is all for this week! Oh, well except for tomorrow it will be my 9 month mark... 9 whole months since I left home!!!!! This also marks the week that I got home from Ecuador and started my mission papers so... that is crazy. Time really is flying faster and faster everyday! Seems crazy to look back on where I was a year ago and where I am now and all of the amazing experiences that I have had in between. It will be fun to see what can happen in the next year!!!

Have a great week!

 I got to see Sister P at Zone Training and then at stake conference

 Our oven was broken so we told the landlord and they just came and took the old one out to the street and gave us a different one

General Conference - All good !

Elder Healey, Elder Ikeda, Hermana Sandall, Hermana Reid, Me and Sister Colvin
Meeting to watch General Conference

Well another week has come to pass here in the Canada, Toronto Mission! I hope everyone watched conference! And well if you didn't... thank goodness for repentance and the internet ;)  A few of my favorites that I would suggest watching. Edward Dube's talk from the Saturday morning session. Elder Holland's from the Saturday afternoon session and President Eyring threw down in the Sunday Morning Session. All good, but those were some of my favorites. I wish I had my notes so I could share with all of you some insights but... oh well. I am just thankful that we have a Prophet of God on the earth today as well as his Apostles and other great leaders in the church who are so inspired and speak to us about the things that we need to hear. The Spirit was continually testifying to me throughout the whole conference that this is all SO true. We are lead by a Prophet of God and this is Christ's Restored Church... it's pretty incredible, eh? We better tell everyone. ;) 

Elder Ikeda and Elder Healey

Saturday morning the Norells, from my last area, came and took Sister Colvin and I out to brunch and then watched the Saturday morning session with us. I just love them! Brother Norell had to be in Kitchener that morning anyway, so it worked out perfectly. Barb brought me veggie straws from Costco, and it was just so good to see them. Made my day! :) It is crazy how you can meet people and then 4 months later they feel like family. I can't imagine having never met some of the people that I have met so far on my mission.

Sunglasses that Sister Norell gave me
I LOVE THEM !

So.... other than conference, nothing too exciting happened. The leaves are starting to change so you better believe that we are always on the hunt for leaves that we can press. They have become my favorite book marks and little treasures to send to people.

I went on an exchange this week with a Sister that is from Idaho but went to Utah State as well. Turns out she lived in the apartment building next to me and she knows people that I met my freshman year. The world is seriously so small... especially in mission life. It seems like I am always running into people who know people I know.

Well I think that is about it for this week. At the bottom of the post are some random pictures of my apartment.  I will have to be better about taking pictures this week. We are going to be on the finding grind this week. A lot of our investigators, we have had to drop, so looking forward to getting creative with that.

Also... let's talk about how P-day isn't until Wednesday next week.... talk about forever. Thanks for nothing Canadian Thanksgiving.... just kidding. :) My full intentions are to celebrate two Thanksgivings this year.... and then every year for the rest of my life... ;) Now if only we could find someone to feed us.. haha

Have a great week and a half, and have a happy Canadian Thanksgiving all you Canadians out there! Heck... if you are American you might as well celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving Monday on my behalf! :)

p.s. Sunday is my 8th month mark!

Bottom bunk  #wazzup

My desk

The living room we never go into
(above and below)

Our kitchen