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. 

A bit of a shock - I'm staying in Kitchener Waterloo !

Transfers!! 

After thinking that I was a goner for sure... giving a "farewell" talk in Sacrament meeting yesterday... and saying goodbye to everyone...... I am not leaving! I will be staying here in Kitchener Waterloo for at least another 6 weeks! It is pretty crazy! I am still in a bit of shock about staying. For the first time in 4 transfers, though, we did have a bit of a change.  Sister Colvin will be headed to Mississauga and I will be getting a new companion here.  She is from Germany and  has been out about 7 months..  I hear she is super funny.

It is pretty crazy... I am excited! It will be different to be here without Sister Colvin.. that will be a big adjustment! It will be good... I love this ward and this is going to make it even harder to leave when I finally do have to. Because that day will inevitably come.... but until then. Kitchener for a bit longer. :) Pretty exciting! 

Today we have a fun P-day planned to say goodbye to everyone who is leaving so I will make this short..

I hope everyone has a great week! :)

With a cute little girl from our ward

We had the largest District in the mission, but now after transfers our District is going to be much different and probably a lot smaller.

With the Mitchell Family

With Henry Mitchell
He and his mom and little Brother and little Sister left for Utah yesterday for 3 weeks so he was saying goodbye to us at church because he didn't know if he would see us again. He is the cutest little thing. He kept asking when he would see us again and he didn't want to have to say goodbye. He said he was going to miss us if we left. He also asked me if I liked "rainbow loom" bracelets, I said yes, and then right after Relief Society he came in and gave me one that he said he had made the night before. I am going to keep it for forever! 

With Sister Rowden (ward member)

All our name tags on the fridge.  Both Sister Colvin and Sister Willoughby will be leaving. Sister Mak will be staying and getting a new companion and we will all still live together.

With our Ward Mission Leader, Brother Olsen and his wife.

With the Despain Family

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! :)