Kinda Like Elder Holland

So, here's my long email.

This week was absolutely great, even though it was so cold that a lot of our appointments fell through. 

We spent New Year's Eve at the bishop's house. It was fantastic and we all had so much fun. They had all seven missionaries over...so it was kinda loud, because we were all laughing. I loved it. There were Christmas crackers, so we all read each other the cheesy jokes and wore the paper crowns. We played this game called Croquinole, and it was so fun! His wife is an incredible cook, and she made one of the best Lasagnas I have ever eaten. It was divine. She also made home-made garlic bread which was soooo good. Okay, enough about food, onto the weather!

This week was sooooooooooooooooo cold. It was absolutely freezing. In fact, right now it's -51 degrees. At one point during the week it was colder here than on Mars...and I survived!!! I am so grateful for our car, my coat and my boots. It snowed so much this week that we had to shovel a ton of snow again. The missionaries are in charge of shoveling the snow in front of the church...and there was so much! My hair froze to my scarf and my middle finger may or may not have gotten frostbite even though I was wearing my mittens. Not funny at all. Anyhow, at least now I can say that I'm an expert at shoveling snow! There was a blizzard on Friday...that was kinda scary, but when you're inside it's not so bad. Our car got stuck in the snow again this week. Luckily enough a kind man jumped out of his massive truck and pushed it out for us. Apparently that's a thing here. Whenever a car gets stuck, everyone comes and helps you. Hurrah for Manitoba! I'm not quite sure why people live here...the day our car got stuck was also the day someone decided to stand behind the railing of the bridge and threatened to throw herself off of it. We said a quick prayer and the policemen were able to talk her out of it. The only problem was that she had been standing there for so long that she was frozen stiff. The police had to pull her up and carry her to the ambulance. Seeing that was hard, but I'm glad that she is fine and taken care of.

This week during companionship inventory I was told that I'm a very bold teacher...something I don't see myself, but apparently I teach "kinda like Elder Holland". Best compliment ever!! I still need to have more faith in my abilities, but I'm working on it!

On Friday we went to the home of a less-active lady who loves missionaries. She is an amazing cook, and I was able to give a Yoruba Book of Mormon to a Nigerian lady who then proceeded to teach me Yoruba by reading the introduction of the BoM to me and explaining it. She said she believes that it is the word of God and asked for one in English to give to one of her friends...that was quite the experience!

Sister Day is incredible, we laugh sooooooo much, but we can also be very serious when we need to. She listens to me when I'm irritated and need to vent, she says she loves my morning shower concerts (the walls here are made of paper!) and she loves to sing along. I love her! She wants me to teach her how to budget, so sometime this week we are going to sit down and do that. She has taught me so much about diligence. Even when it's freezing cold outside and we're actually not supposed to go out she puts on her boots and her coat and is so motivated and willing to help and teach people. I have so much to learn from her still, and I hope that we stay together for at least one more transfer. 

I absolutely love Brandon and I wouldn't mind spending my entire mission here. Although no, I would love to maybe go to Regina and serve with Sister Ashton-Korn, because I really miss her! But first I want to stay here a bit longer.

At the less-active's house who loves missionaries I almost got run over by a Great Dane. I love dogs, and the dogs here seem to love me, but that dog was so huge that I got quite a fright!! He's just a gentle giant though and he was the sweetest thing. Poor Sister Day hates dogs so she was absolutely petrified. I felt really sorry for her, but she didn't complain!

I have started reading in the book of Isaiah...and so far I haven't had that much of a problem understanding it! I read it really slowly and think about each sentence and what it means, that way I don't get confused. I love it!

This week C and B finally came home. I was so great to see them again! C is getting excited for his baptism and we are too! He is such a sweetheart. And even though it seems like he doesn't really pay attention during the lessons, he still soaks it all up. We ask him a ton of questions to make sure that he understands what we teach him, and he is always able to answer all of them. I am so impressed with him.

This week I gave a Mormon.org card to someone at the soup kitchen and he actually called back! He is the nicest man and he is just generally interested in learning about the church. I hope that we can help him some way or another.

I still absolutely love being a missionary, it's the best!!!!!!!!!!

I love you and stay warm in you 10 degree weather! 

This is how I exercise in the morning. Just kidding, we really do work out

This is how I went to take out the rubbish. It's -51 degrees celsius