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. 

Wonderful Week !

Another week has come and gone at what feels like record speed. Time is going by so fast these days! I guess the closer I get to the end, the faster it is going to go which is really sad. :( I just keep learning more and more every day that I need to make the most of every second because time is slipping away too quickly.

Sister Fragapane and I

The Relief Society had an activity this week and at the end of it one of the sisters showed a slideshow of pictures that she had put together of the ward and... I am in a lot of them. haha I was here for Halloween, Christmas, various baptisms... I look like I am a member of the ward!

Oh and good news! Janet's daughter, who is in the other ward and being taught by other Sisters, is getting baptized April 6th! Pretty amazing to see how the Gospel blessed not only Janet, but she is now able to share it with her daughters. 

We were all in Brampton to see Elder Bednar and then this is all of us eating lunch after. A TON of missionaries

So our special training meeting with Elder Bednar was on Saturday and it was incredible. The meeting was at the Stake Center in Brampton and all of the missionaries in the mission were able to attend. 

The people at the meeting were; Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, 

Elder Bednar

Elder Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy,

Elder Soares

Elder Foster of the Second Presidency of the Seventy, 

Elder Foster

and Bishop Davies of the Presiding Bishopric

Bishop Davies

 as well as their wives. That is a pretty good group if you ask me. At one point Elder Bednar made a comment of how an opportunity like that will never happen again in our lives and... he is right. haha Truly a once in a lifetime, incredible experience. I really don't even think words can describe how great it was. It was a 3 hour meeting that did not feel that long at all. I probably could have sat in that room for a week and learned from all of these great men and their wives. I learned a lot and I know it is an experience that I will never forget. We really are so fortunate to have Prophets and Apostles on the Earth today. Being able to be in the room as one of them really helped to strengthen my testimony of that. I really wish I could describe all the things that were talked about and the Spirit that was there, but unfortunately that is one thing that can't really be conveyed. So I will just take what I learned, and my testimony of it.. and go and share that with others. :) 

Elder Palmer, Elder Healy, and I 

And Elder Wihongi and I... He was my Zone Leader in Hamilton

It was a wonderful day and it really got me excited for General Conference. There is so much to be learned and I am so grateful that it is time for General Conference again. We also found out this week that we will be able to go to the temple this weekend!! It has been a year since I have been able to go to the temple so I am really looking forward to it. 

Toronto Ontario Temple

This will be a fun couple of weekends! I really have been so blessed to have all of these experiences!

Busy Week :)

Well a lot has happened since I last got to email home. About 5 minutes after sending that email we got a phone call from the AP's saying that they had needed to do an emergency transfer so we would be getting another companion.  So we drove to Brampton and waited in the office until the other companionship showed up. 

(Related: the AP's know most all of the missionaries that have came from Morgan and while we were talking they said that I give off the same "Morgan vibe" like Elder Prochnow.   I am going to take it as a compliment. There just must be something different about us Morgan people!) 

Sisters - Prescott, Tuia, DeRuvo

So we got our new companion, her name is Sister DeRuvo, she is from Italy and after a week of knowing her I already feel like we are best friends. She is FANTASTIC. So funny and talkative and a really great missionary. I think it has been a really great blessing having her. Unfortunately transfers are in a week and I bet we will all be separated :( but at least it has been a really fun 2 weeks.

At the Toronto Temple

Saturday we were able to go to the Temple in Brampton! It was so great! The only bad part is that we had to wake up at 3am to leave by 4am to get there at 5:30am for our session that was at 6am.   Needless to say we were a little tired, but it was so good to be able to go to the temple and be with other missionaries and really feel the Spirit. Never take the Temple for granted, especially all of us Uta

hns, it is an incredible blessing that SO many temples are SO close to us at all times.

We witnessed a serious miracle this week and that came through this kid named Paul. We met Paul through a member and he has some SERIOUS addictions that he is trying to give up. He has a ton of faith and it working hard to get through them he is just struggling. As we all know ,addictions of any kind are hard and so he is just trying to get through so that he can be free. Anyway, Paul had told us and other people more than once that there is no way that he will give up smoking weed. He said he wanted to give up alcohol and hard drugs, but he didn't see how weed was bad. So we went to a lesson with him Thursday at the church with the full intention of dropping him because we can't help him to change if he doesn't want to change. The second I saw him I knew things were different today, and I knew that we couldn't drop him. My feelings were right because as we started talking, he said he had just met with his doctor and she told him that they weed is in fact harmful to him, and that he really needs to consider giving it up because it is slowly killing him.  So.... Paul went from a kid who was NEVER going to give up smoking, to seeing that it is something that is harming him and he was considering it and saying that it is something he needs to do. I wanted to jump out of my seat and do a small victory dance. Seeing someone experience that little bit of change and want to be different is incredible! The lesson was really good that day. Paul was able to feel the Spirit and see that this is something that he wants. We are going to keep working with him and keep helping him. We know that he can overcome this, it is just getting him to see his potential and then to seek help from the Lord and other sources to really get through it. He is an awesome guy and we are hoping for the best for him.

Easter was good! We had 2 investigators come to church and all of the talks on the atonement were perfect for them to hear. We were able to eat Easter Dinner at a members house.

We met with a man named Egigu this week and by the end of our second meeting he was saying he wanted to be baptized. He is SO prepared. He came to church Sunday,  stayed for a baptism that took place after church, and asked us yesterday if he could move up the baptism we had already set for him. He is from Africa and is a really cool guy. We met him on the bus and he really is just so prepared. I will keep you all updated on that. 

District Meeting 

All I can say is it is just really fun to teach people and see them change and grow and love what they are hearing. The Restored Gospel really can and does change lives. These people just need to be given the opportunity to hear it! :)  Well this will be kind of short for today so I can get a chance to upload some pictures!  Have a great week! :)