PICTURE THIS - I'm finally getting transferred!

Transfers!!

I am going to Oakville with Sister Mendenhall! So sad to leave Kitchener... but I guess I couldn't stay forever! I don't have much time to write today... we have a lot of things that need to get done! But.. I am very happy and looking forward to my new area. I will be whitewashing (which I have come to LOVE) So I am really looking forward to it! We are in the final weeks! This will probably be my last area! Pretty exciting stuff!

Easter Brunch

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter! We had a big brunch here on Friday and it was a lot of fun!

Helping one of the little girls with her Easter Basket

Really, really going to miss Kitchener... This place is going to have a special place in my heart for forever! So thankful for all of the things that I have learned here and for all of the wonderful people that I have met! 

Clinton and I 

Chloe came and did some missionary work with us! She LOVED it !

We decided to take a bunch of funny photos because we knew it was going to be our last week with all of us together

Setting up for the Easter brunch.. and some selfies. haha

Saying bye to Caitlyn Rowden and her Dad this morning (see below also)

The Olsen's - I am going to miss them soooo much !

Brother and Sister Fischer

At the Mitchell's today‏

This was taken at the Mitchell's today
(along with the next few below)

Lesson with Janet and Amanda 

Easter egg hunt at the Meyer's

Saying bye to Julie

Saying bye to the Cliftons

Pretty drive to the Meyers. Sunset 

More Easter pictures at the Meyer's.. Chloe and her Neice‏

Elder Parker and Elder Prochnow with us.

They were in the Spanish Branch and we were in the Kitchener Waterloo ward.. Both wards go to the Chapel here in Kitchener

The Whole Zone 

Brother and Sister Richins and I 

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. 

Busy Crazy CROWDED Week!

February has arrived! And... in 10 days it will be my year mark!! We are trying to plan some fun things to celebrate.. Crazy that Sister Colvin and I started out together in the MTC last February and now we are together this February... My how time flys!

Sister Tofa and I last pday... She went back home
 to Australia this week. :(

The Rowden's had a "Welcome Back" party for us when they found out we didn't get transferred! The party was complete with a banner, balloons, tiaras, feather boas, and cake with candles! They are the best! It was so much fun!

This has been another busy/crazy week! 

Thursday we got a phone call from the Chinese speaking sisters saying that they would be moving in with us.  Apparently they were supposed to be living with another set of Chinese speaking sisters, but the apartment manager wouldn't let them so... we were the next choice.  Sister Colvin and I hurried and tried to make the apartment so everything would fit, and then about an hour later Elder Parker and Elder Prochnow show up and they just start hauling loads of huge furniture into our house. Being a missionary really teaches you how to "go with the flow".  One minute we were living in an apartment all to ourselves and the next minute we were cramming beds into a room.

It was pretty stressful and it has been a weird couple of days,  but things have settled down and it feels like we can move on with life. It has been fun having Sister Willoughby and Sister Mak with us! They have been teaching us some Chinese and that seems to make the whole "sharing a bathroom with 3 other girls thing" worth it. ;) We don't know how long they will be staying here, but.. I am glad they are here so... It will be good if they stay forever. It makes things more fun to have more people around! And... you know me.. I love to have fun! :)

Sister Willoughby, Sister Mak, me and Sister Colvin
after moving all of the stuff in

During all the chaos of the Thursday move, the Bishop called us and asked us to meet him at the church because he had some good news that had to do with Janet. So we hurried to the church! Now a little background.. we had been praying and doing everything we could to figure out how we could find Janet a place to live. Nothing seemed to be working.. Both Norm and Janet had been praying and none of us could think of anything... but.. our prayers worked because the Bishop said that there was a sister in the ward who would let Janet rent a room and so... just like that.. Our prayers were answered! Now another cool part to this story is that the night before Elder So'o had been on the phone with Elder Prochnow and Elder Parker and they were brainstorming how this could all work out so that Janet would reach her baptismal date. They weren't coming up with anything until out of nowhere Elder Prochnow goes, "Woah, I just had an impression that there is someone in the ward who has a place for her to stay." And he couldn't have been more right. :)

We went and told Janet and she was SO excited! And Norm too was so excited... Now Norm has moved his baptismal date to February 16th and they both will be getting baptized! It has been a serious blessing and I am SO glad to still be in this area so that I get to be a part of it. They are amazing people and I am very, very excited for them!

It snowed some more this week... everyone here is amazed that there has been this much snow. It has been a fun week, just very busy. Things are still going very well with the area. We have hit our goals again this week and are seeing a lot of great things happening. 

Just staying busy, which I guess is what it is all about! :)

11 whole months !

Does anybody know what today is??? Nope? Well... I will tell you... today marks 11 months since my cute parents dropped me off at the MTC... 11 whole months!! It is a strange strange thing, and pretty exciting to look back on what has happened in the past 11 months.. I have met so many new people and have done things I never thought I could do and have learned so much! 

The day that the thermometer said -21 and it was apparently -40 with the wind chill... and also they said if your skin was exposed to it for more than 5 minutes you could get frost bite... and then... it rained Friday. Go figure!

 This week was good. The weather got crazy cold Tuesday and Wednesday. Everyone said it was -40*C with the wind chill so... that is pretty darn cold. Thankfully we had quite a few appointments so we tried to stay in a house or in a car most of the day. On that Tuesday we got a funny phone call from Elder Prochnow and Elder Parker (the Zone Leaders)... It started out with a," Hey Sisters..... ummm..... do you think that you could come and jump our car??" Their battery was going bad and even in their underground parking the car was way too cold and was not starting. So... we went and helped them with that... This is now twice I have had to jump a car on my mission.. Heavenly Father really was preparing me for this when my car would die ALL THE TIME back at home. Glad that it wasn't all for nothing. :)

My outfit on a freezing cold P-day

So after we made it through the freezing weather things were good. We had a Zone Training Wednesday and then we did exchanges that night. Sister Tofa came here with me and it was a lot of fun.. She leaves at the end of this transfer and it will be sad to see her go. She will go back to Australia and I am going to have to convince her to move to the states at some point so that this isn't the last time that I see her ever. 

Ice cream cake that Elder So'o had made for
Sister Willouhby's birthday

All of the sisters with the cake

We had some good lessons this week. Janet and Norm are progressing SO well. Norm has really started getting in to the Book of Mormon and I cannot believe how fast he is reading through it. Norm even committed to baptism which is pretty amazing. Three months ago you would have never even seen him wanting to sit down to talk with missionaries. It really is a testimony to me of how much power is in the Book of Mormon. He really has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and you can see it working in his life. We are really excited for them! 

We had a really great week! We hit "standards" which I haven't done since the first transfer of my mission. So this means that we have 2 progressing investigators, 2 investigators with baptismal dates, 2 investigators at church, 4 lessons taught with members present and 2 new investigators. It was pretty great to see our work paying off and also seeing the tender mercies. We were quite blessed this week!

Transfers will be coming up soon and... I really have no feeling as to what will happen but... If I do leave I already know that I will be so sad about it. I really love this ward SO much. Since we have had a lot of dinner appointments lately I feel like I have gotten to know the members more and more and it makes me sad that I will have to leave! It is a great thing about missions that you get to meet so many new people but it is a sad thing that you have to leave and that some people you may never see again. Oh well... I guess it is all a part of it!

Brother Mitchell (the vet) brought this cute thing home from work the other day.. She had broken her jaw and the farmer didn't want to pay the money to fix it so Brother Mitchell said that she would take her and then he just did the surgery and now they have her so... if at any moment you want to buy a mini horse that would be GREAT. :) 

Oh and yesterday the new Stake Presidency came here for ward conference. They spoke and taught all of the classes and it was really cool. The Stakes theme is, "Feed the Spirit, Nourish the Soul" and they talked a lot about how important it is for all of us to be continually "feeding" our Spirits. So... if you haven't read your scriptures lately... try that. :) If you haven't said a prayer lately... go do that. :) There are so many things we can do to feed our Spirits and it really does help! 

Well... I hope this was a bit more of a "substantial" email then some of my others have been. I hope everyone has a great week! :)

Have a ever mentioned that there are squirrels EVERYWHERE here??

We play this game where we see how long it takes to see a squirrel when we leave the house and it usually only takes about 10 seconds... Case in point.. looked out the window... squirrel sitting on the emergency exit stairs outside our apartment