Meet Sister Fragapane !

Hi everyone!! Meet Sister Fragapane, my new companion! 

St. Patrick's Day - we decided to wear the same outfit !

So first off.... I bet you are wondering how you pronounce her name... I will try and explain it here. "Frag-a-pawn-eh" It is an Italian name and most people have a hard time saying it, but the ward is slowly starting to figure it out. Sister Fragapane was born in Argentina, then moved to Germany when she was 5. So she speaks both Spanish, German, and English (which she only learned her English in the past 9 months since being on her mission and her English is SO good, it is very impressive!)

Sister Colvin and I drove to Brampton on Tuesday morning and got our new companions. 

Sister Colvin and I 

Transfers are always fun in the sense that we get to go and see a lot of missionaries that we haven't seen in a long time. It is always a nice reunion, hence all of the pictures from the day! (See more pics at the bottom of the post)

Elder Washburn, Elder So'o, Sister Colvin and I

Elder Vanderstel, Elder So'o, Sister Fragapane, and I

The MTC...........

Sister Zerkle, Sister Lamb, Sister Colvin and I

I haven't seen Sister Lamb since the morning that we arrived in Canada, so it was fun for all of us to be together again!

And ONE YEAR LATER !

After transfers,  we got back to the area and got to work! Things are going well! We are needing to work on building up our teaching pool again, that is the problem when you baptize people.. there is no one left to teach. haha But... as Elder Prochnow once told me.. it is a good problem to have. :) 

The weather is still pretty Canadian here.... We went from +7*C Tuesday to.... 5 inches of snow Wednesday and about -10*C... and then it has been pretty cold ever since. Some of the snow is starting to melt. I saw some grass for the first time in what feels like a century so that was good. :) But really is is still freezing when we are out working. I have the faith that someday it will warm up but.... just not sure when.

So I have some pretty sweet news... At our last Zone Conference President Scott told us that there was going to be a Special Meeting March 22nd and they told us all to prepare spiritually and that all the missionaries would be able to go and that we would need to look out best... So we knew that someone pretty "high-up" in the church must be coming.. but we didn't know who. Well... now we know who is coming and we are all pretty excited about it. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum 12 Apostles will be here... in Brampton... this Saturday.. and we all get to go and listen to him speak! I am really looking forward to this once in a lifetime experience! It is going to be pretty amazing so I look forward to letting all of you know how that goes next week. :)

Elder David A. Bednar

Things are good here! Lovin' my new companion and am grateful to still be here in Kitchener Waterloo! 

Elder Lasley and I
He got transferred to another part of the mission. I served with him in Hamilton and then here in Kitchener.

Finally got Elder So'o to do a real smile in a picture :)‏

          Sister Taylor and I‏

              Sister DeRuvo and I‏

                                 Sister Raymer and I‏

 I never see her enough but I love this girl! She was in the same ward as me my freshman year of college, I never really knew her, but then we met each other in the MTC and we knew that we knew each other from somewhere. She is so great. She is going home in July to go back to school as well. 

                              Sister Willoughby and I‏

She is no longer a roomie here in Kitchener.. she was transferred to London

Kitchener Waterloo - a new experience

Old Area - The Julians

They usually fed us twice a week and it was THE BEST food.

Michelle, Brett, Darren, and Natalie

Natalie and I with the Happy Sad Day Cake.
We were so sad :(

Well I made it to my new area! I am in Kitchener Waterloo and things are pretty good.

Monday night we had a sleep over with Sister Taylor and Sister Bradshaw, and then Tuesday morning Sister Taylor and I woke up at 4:30 and drove to Brampton for transfers. I got to see some people there which is always nice. I saw Sister Tebbs for a second, and then we loaded everything up into the transfer van and headed for Kitchener where I met up with Sister Colvin and got to see Sister Tuia and Elder Dewey. And then Sister Colvin and I headed for the Kitchener Waterloo East area.

Transfers

Elder Dewey was my first District Leader.
He was the Zone Leader over the zone I am in now last transfer,  but then he got moved. We were both bummed. It would have been fun to serve near him again

Elder Skirvin and I
We served in the same ward when I was in Brampton. He is awesome.
He was getting transferred to Timmons which is like an 8 hour drive north

I got to see Sister Tebbs for like 3 seconds,
and yes - that Elder did kind of ruin the photo 

My Trainer - Sister Tuia and I
She  goes home after this transfer.
I am glad I got to see her one more time

We had a lot of appointments that first day which was good. I was SO exhausted by the end of the day, however. It was nice to finally go to bed.

The ward is good. There are a lot of families from Utah that live here which is kind of funny. It is just hard to learn all of the names and figure out who people are. After being in an area for 4 months and knowing everyone and everything it is a big adjustment to know no one and nothing. Oh well. I guess that is what being a missionary is all about.  We have a few people that we are teaching, but the sisters hadn't been seeing them progress in awhile so we are going to have to figure out what to do with that.

This is a shared car area which basically means we walk all the time. haha We have the car half of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday until 7 so... we walk every other day. I don't hate walking,  but it is also not the most effective use of time. We haven't used a bus yet since I have been here. We are going to have to figure that out soon so we can get places, and I am going to have to find some new shoes soon because this much walking is killing them. 

Saturday was the General Relief Society Broadcast and it was really cool. President Monson spoke and it was wonderful!! It got me so pumped for General Conference this weekend. I really can't wait for that!

Things are going good. Everything is just new here and hard to get used to, but I am figuring it out. Just trying to get to know people and figure out how we are going to find some new investigators, it is a very residential and a small area, so we are going to have to get creative.

Hopefully now that I am getting more settled I will be able to provide a more detailed email for next week!  I can't believe that tomorrow is October! I know I say it all the time but... time really is flying by so quickly!  I hope you enjoy the pictures! They will hopefully provide a nice outline of my week!  

Sister Norells' dad - Brother Goddard 
I called him Grandpa. He is the sweetest man

Transfers........and I'm moving !

Well... I knew I couldn't stay in Hamilton forever.... but I sure wished I could..... Either way... Transfer calls were last night and I will be going to Kitchener Waterloo and my companion is Sister Colvin, she is the sister that I served with in the MTC so that is pretty crazy! It should be fun! It will be nice to see a new area but I am sure going to miss this area... A LOT!

This week was good, it is cooling off, 

one day it rained the ENTIRE day. 

Ummm... I can't really focus because of transfers on the brain but.... I will write more next week when things have gone back to normal. Hope everyone has a great week!

District Meeting
Elder Lasley, Elder Kenning, Elder Wihongi, and Elder Palmer
Sister Bradshaw, Sister Taylor, Sister Puruganan, Sister Prescott

Sister Bradshaw and I wore the same outfit to District Meeting - Awkward !

Staying in Hamilton - as a Trainer !

Well for the first time in my mission I didn't have to pack up and move at transfers! I am staying in Hamilton and I am training a new Sister! Her name is Sister Puruganan and she is from the Philippines. (and I don't even know how to attempt to tell you all how to say her last name, I am having a hard time remembering it. haha Hopefully I get it in a few days!)

Sister Puruganan and Karly

Transfer calls came Sunday night at about 10 pm. They start making the calls at 8:45,  so Sister Taylor and I thought that we would both be staying so we started getting ready for bed and then the phone rang. Usually it is a call from the Assistants, but this time the phone said President Scott! And when President calls it only means one thing..... that someone is training! So I was pretty pumped!

Monday was Canada Day so the whole weekend, there were fireworks that we could see from our apartment. Sister Taylor packed Monday, and then we went to visit our investigators and members so she could say bye to them. It is always hard to say bye, so I am thankful that this time it wasn't me saying the goodbyes. She moved to an area that is about an hour from here, so Monday night we drove and switched companions with another set of sisters that was in our District.  Sister Taylor is now serving with Sister Colvin (my MTC companion) and then Sister Wester was my companion for Monday night before we went to the trainer's meeting on Tuesday morning bright and early!

Sister Wester and Karly - one day together

The new missionaries and trainers

We went to the Brampton Stake Center Tuesday morning.  We had to be there at 8am,  and then the meeting started at 9. (I always love transfers and being able to see a bunch of other missionaries!) The meeting was really good, but it kind of made me nervous because I started to realize that being a trainer can be a lot of pressure! It was stressing me out, but after that meeting we got to meet our companions and things were all good from there. I relaxed and started to realize that it won't be too bad. I know how to be a missionary, so I just have to do my thing and show someone else how!

I am loving Sister Puruganan so much already! I am really excited for this transfer. I think it will go really well and I know that I am going to learn SO much! I spoke in Sacrament Meeting on Sunday and it went really well, at least I think it did. :) I don't know why I wasted so much of my life not knowing that I liked speaking in Sacrament Meeting. I should have gotten over that fear a long time ago!

Oh! Here is another good story... on Friday night, last week, the fire alarm went off at 2:15 in the morning so we had to evacuate the building. Someone had just pulled the fire alarm so at least there wasn't a real fire, but it was really hard to sleep after that whole adventure.

Things are good, being a missionary is great. And now I must go help my companion find some clothes and good food to buy! They eat way better in the Philippines than they do in North America so... no chance that I will get fat this transfer! haha  I'll email on Monday! Have a good couple of days! :)

The Work of Salvation

Selfie Sunday! Do you miss my cute face?!?!?! ;)

First things first..... if you haven't watched The Work of Salvation, yet... go watch it right now. Here, I will even do you a favor and post you the link so it won't take any effort.. :)  It was SO good! Every member needs to watch it and see how they can help missionaries! And some of the videos they show on there are so good.... the one where they do a missionary medley and have videos with it of like each stage of life for a missionary most definitely made me cry! It just brings back SO many memories of when I was set apart and then dropped off at the MTC by my parents. Seriously so good. :)  The whole Sunday broadcast just got me more pumped on missionary work and helped me to be more grateful for this opportunity I have to be set apart as a full time missionary. For all you pre-missionaries reading this or to anyone who is thinking about going on a mission, get pumped because you are in for the time of your life. Yeah some days suck, a lot! But..... it is worth it... it is SO worth it because this work is life changing. ok I will be done now #preach :)

Becky, Sister Norell, and Karly

Last Monday we were able to go to Niagara Falls. It was a ton of fun! The experience from the Canada side is probably way different than it would be on the American side. I must admit that it made me a little bit homesick to see America. haha Sometimes I just miss it, and the good grocery stores. (Seriously be grateful for the stores in the states. It is just not the same here!)

Karly holding a picture of her Grandma, Great-Grandma, and Mom.  The picture was taken in 1989 when THEY visited the  falls, before Karly was born. 

After the Falls we went to a place called Niagara on the Lake. It is a beautiful little town that has a ton of cute shops and places to eat.

We have started teaching a family that has 4 little girls. Twins that are 4, a 6 year old and a 9 year old. They are so cute! When we taught them last week I had them help me say the closing prayer and it was the sweetest thing ever. I would say the first words and then they would copy me and it was honestly the best prayer I have ever been a part of! The whole family came to church yesterday and really loved it. All the little girls showed up with the Book of Mormons we gave them and instantly fell in love with all of it!

The ward fed us after church yesterday... it looks like we are on a date huh? I laughed. haha Me, Elder Palmer, Elder Jones, and Sister Taylor

It has been really humid the past few days... I don't think I will ever get used to it. I guess I should be thankful that it hasn't been humid the entire month of June and is just starting now. Which, by the way, I can't actually believe that June is almost over and so is this transfer. Transfer calls are on Sunday. I am really hoping I stay, but with my track record we all know the chances of that are highly unlikely. haha Oh well, just have to remember, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord!" 

Well P-day is on Wednesday next week due to Canada Day on Monday and transfers! I hope everyone has an awesome week and seriously... go watch The Work of Salvation. You won't regret it! :)

 P.S. -  I volunteered to speak in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday. Yeah.... the girl who hadn't spoken in Sacrament until her farewell talk just volunteered to speak in Sacrament Meeting. Can someone tell me what happened to the old Karly Prescott? haha

Had to ......:)

Basic Missionary Grind

Niagara Falls ended up being a no go for today because it is raining, but we rescheduled for next Monday so let's all cross our fingers the weather will be BEAUTIFUL! :)

This week was full of your basic missionary grind. We did a lot of finding that was not the most successful ever, but we were able to find a few people who are interested. We ran into a couple of people this week who were interested in talking to us until they found out what church we were from.... haha When I said, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" They looked like they had seen a ghost or something and quickly shut their doors.

Apparently someone has told these people some lies about us Mormons, because I don't feel like a couple of girls walking around in skirts talking about the truth is very threatening.. ;)

Sister Taylor and I with Becky - She comes teaching with us, and she is THE BEST, funniest girl ever !

One of the members took Sister Taylor and I to the Mandarin and let's just say the Mandarin is the best and they need to get them in the States. It is an all you can eat Chinese buffet and it is just really, really good. The member started talking to one of the managers before we left and the guy was really nice. He ended up giving us all these hard back books with the history of the Mandarin. Not sure what I am going to do with that souvenir but... it is still cool. haha

This is Crystal-Lynn - she is awaiting her mission call.
She comes out teaching and tracting with us. 

We had an investigator at church yesterday which is always a good sign! He says he is looking for something and wants to keep learning so we will keep teaching him. He asks a lot of great questions and so he is really fun to teach!

Studying 

Kind of a boring week, but things were good. It rained and was super cold one day. Not what the weather is typically like here, but I am thankful for it because I do not enjoy the really hot and humid days.

Well, sorry so boring... Niagara next week! So one of these Mondays the blog post will be exciting and full of pictures from Niagara Falls! 

Transferred Again !

This week I learned that God and my mission President must REALLY trust me! And that is because I got transferred, again......... I am white-washing, again.......... and....... drum roll please............ I. AM. TRAINING!!! Let's just all keep in mind this is only my 3rd transfer and most of the time I don't actually know what I am doing.. haha "Fake it til ya make it",  is what I like to call it. :) It has served me well this far in my life!

Anyway... the call came from the Assistants Sunday and I thought for sure that I would be staying but... they had other plans for me! They called, told me and then Elder Sommerfeldt goes, "You're ticked aren't you?!" (and then he just laughs) And let's be honest, I was a little ticked and/or scared out of my mind!! I asked him why I had to be *white-washing AGAIN and he goes, "Because you're good at it!" Uh.... yeah right. haha
*Whitewashing means that they took 2 missionaries out of an area, and will be putting 2 new ones back in that same area. 

So I cried, and then I found out my District Leader would be Elder Palmer, so I stopped crying, and then I cried some more that night while I was packing, and then Tuesday morning when I had to say bye to Sister Tebbs I cried... but fast forward to today and I can't get the smile off of my face!

I am in Hamilton, I am with Sister Taylor, and I am LOVING IT! The members here... Awesome.. the people here... awesome! I know it is only day two but... I am feeling really good about this place! :) And my testimony of prayer has increased 10 fold because let's be honest, at some point prayer is all I've got going for me! :) I'm really excited to be here and truly thankful that God knows better than I do and put me right where I need to be. :)

Monday was crazy having to say goodbye to members and investigators. It was sad to leave my investigators, but I know they are in good hands with Sister Tebbs and her new companion.

I'm the only one that was transferred !
Karly with Sister Tebbs, and Elders Wilson and Skirvin

Another cool thing that happened this week is that Sunday, the 1st Counselors from the General Relief Society Presidency, the General Young Women Presidency,  and the General Primary Presidency were at our church so I got to meet them all! They were so awesome and gave Sister Tebbs and I hugs. This whole mission thing has given me the opportunity to meet a lot of pretty big people in the church! :) Now I just need President Monson to come and visit! haha

Click the names below to get to know more about each of them:

Sister Carole M. Stephens, First Counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency

Sister Carol F. McConkie, First Counselor in the General Young Women Presidency

Sister Jean A. Stevens, First Counselor in the General Primary Presidency

 This week has been crazy but so so so great! Excited to be here in Hamilton and to see what new adventures await me here! :) Thanks for all your love, prayers, and support! I'll write again Monday!

Random Fact: Monday was Victoria Day and Victoria Day is a big thing around here... Want to know how I knew it was a big deal? Well that is because Walmart was closed... Walmart NEVER closes. haha

Karly with Elder Prochnow and Elder Amorim