"Oh, so you're my German!"

Well, for Easter we will be having a meeting with Elder Christopherson! So I am really excited for that.

It is still cold, back to the negatives and it snowed again...but, I have faith that we will soon see Spring!

We got our transfer calls! I will be staying in Prince Albert with Sister Haner! Yay!!! Elder Hindes is leaving (boooooooo) and he his going to Brandon! So I have a ton of letters for him to take down and give to all the people there. I still miss Brandon, and I wish I could go back, but I know that I need to be here in PA. Still not quite sure why, but until I figure that out I'll just keep on persevering. Elder Jordan is also getting transferred, he is going to North Battleford, so not too far away. Elder Schmidt, who I served with in Brandon for two transfers, is going to com up to PA, so we will probably serve together for two more transfers. He just isn't going to get rid of me!

 

The snow melted and we had some really nice warm days, but then on Friday it started to snow again! So we're back to Winter, haha. Canada!! I love it.

 

We finally got to reset Jodie's baptismal date for May 10th and we are so excited! She has been keeping all the commandments that we have taught to her and is making so much progress. I just love her! We showed up at her house and washed the dishes and swept the floor for her Kukum (her grandma) and ever since then her family has been so nice to us and they really like us! Her grandma wants to make us bannock, so I am excited for that!

We got to go to Melfort this weekend to help with a food drive there. We arrived on Friday in the afternoon and it was so great to see President and Sister Thomas again. I love them! Melfort is a tiny town of about 5000 people, and there were around fifty missionaries there. We got to hear from President and Sister Thomas, as well as Elder and Sister Menlove, who work in the mission office. Elder Menlove talked all about how the funds we receive from the church are sacred. The money that we personally contribute to our mission doesn't even cover our rent. I am so grateful for the support that the missionaries receive from the church. Those funds truly are sacred and I intend on being much more careful. I am so grateful for Sister Haner, because she loves being thrifty and has helped me so much. 

 

After the training portion of our meeting, we got to attend a fireside. It was so good! Everyone talked about "Finding" and Sister Thomas explained that if we develop Christlike Attributes, we will find more people. So, here is my master plan: President Uchtdorf talked about how gratitude is a catalyst for developing Christlike Attributes...So I am going to be much more grateful, so that I can develop more Christlike Attributes, so that we can find more people to teach! 

 

We had the opportunity of meeting some of the members in the Melfort branch. When I introduced myself to President Froc (branch President) he said "oh, so you're my German!" I got the same reaction when I introduced myself to one of the Sisters. She said "ooooh, you're the German!" So funny. 

 

I got to see Sister Smith again, who was in my MTC group and it was so great! She is going to Winnipeg now, so I will be the only Sister from my MTC district all the way up in PA. All the other Sisters are in Winnipeg and the surrounding areas. 

 

I got to meet Elder Vause, who is the most unique and incredible human I have ever met in my life. He made me laugh so much! He is just hilarious. Such a character. He knows everything about movies and when we had a practice as a group, he took his chair and placed it in the middle of the circle...I am so excited to see him again on Friday :D

 

I also got to meet Elder Gardner, who is actually in my zone. He is currently serving in Saskatoon. He is a convert and he joined the church when he was eight. We chatted for over an hour and it was great. The missionaries in this mission are fantastic!

 

I am so excited to see the apostle on Saturday and I can;t wait to tell you all about it on Monday next week!

Well, We Got to Watch Conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got to go mattress sailing!

So pretty much my entire email is going to be full of my insights from the talks that were given. But first I will update you on how my week went!

I met a lady from Namibia, who studied in South Africa and knows German! It was so fun to talk to her about South Africa and speak with her in German. She even told me where to find Biltong in PA! I am soooo excited.

We went to visit a member that lives out of town. On the way there we passed so many deer right by the highway. It was rather frightening. Anyhow, we finally found where she lived, and we weren't quite sure if it was her house or not. But we walked down the super long and windy driveway and her massive dog ran up to us and just started barking at us. Not in a friendly way. We didn't know what to do, so we just stood there and let the dog bark at us. Anyhow, after about three minutes of not moving I took the phone and called her. It was her house and she came out to get us. So funny.

Speaking of dogs...there is this one particular dog that used to like me...I don't know what I did, but now every time we go over there it bites me. It hasn't ever pierced my skin, so I'm not too worried, but I sincerely hope that the dog and I manage to sort things out!

We finally got to see J again! She has been really busy, but she was happy to see us again and she still really wants to be baptised. She has been keeping all the commandments we taught her about, and hopefully we will get to teach her about all the other ones soon. She has been making such good progress and I love teaching her. She is so great, and I am so blessed to have met her!

We went out to a member's home for lunch on Friday. After eating and chatting we asked if we could share a message with them. We watched the Lifting Burdens Mormon Message and read Matthew 11:28-30. Then we sang "I need Thee every Hour". The husband absolutely bawled when we were singing. It was so sweet, I hope he was feeling the spirit and not just crying at our singing voices!

Yesterday evening we got a phone call from Sister B. She called us to check up on us and ask how conference went. Then she asked if we had enough food and all that. She is so sweet! I love the members of this ward, they are so great and they take very good care of the missionaries!

We have a Zone Conference in Melfort this Friday. It will be a service project, and I don't really know too much about what will be happening, but I will let you know all about it next week.

Alright, on to my conference insights. First of all, I absolutely LOVED conference. It was so good! Every single talk was brilliant and I took a ton of notes. 

I love how Elder Holland talked about how we need to take a moral stand and defend our faith with courage, courtesy and pure Christlike love. Everyone will eventually have to defend their faith, and we seem to have to do it quite a bit. Sometimes it can be hard, but it is so worth it! We are so blessed to have the gospel in our lives!

Sister Linda K. Burton talked about how we need to make daily family prayer and scripture study a priority, as well as have Family Home Evening. Doing these things will help us be less stressed and more at peace. I think that everybody could use a lot less stress! So that means that everybody needs to make that more of a priority!

Elder Andersen said that the Book of Mormon is the most powerful written testimony of the Saviour. We are so blessed and lucky to have it.

I loved this quote by Elder Nelson: "Even if everyone is doing it- WRONG WAS NEVER RIGHT. Courage, not compromise, brings the smile of God's approval." So powerful! And so true. The world around us is constantly changing and getting worse. Staying faithful and standing up for ourselves gets harder and harder, but it is worth it!

President Uchtdorf's talk was much needed. "Gratitude is a catalyst for all Christlike Attributes." That sentence was like a spiritual high-five. In the face. I really have so much to be grateful for, I really need to start showing my gratitude! I need to stop always being in a bad mood, I need to stop getting frustrated so quickly, I need to rely on the Lord much more. So many things to improve on! But hey, that's what missions are for, right? I have no intention whatsoever to go home and be exactly the same way that I was. That would be terrible!

Alright, this email is getting longer than I wanted it to be, so I am going to stop now. Subscribe to the Ensign!!! Church magazines are great! Also, hang a picture of the Saviour up in your house. I think it was Sister Burton who said that as we make the Saviour the focus of our lives, we will be blessed with the guidance of the Holy Ghost and everything else will fall into place. That is a great promise! 

I hope you have a great week!

One Step at a Time

It's still really cold here, but it is slowly warming up. All the ice is melting leaving massive slush-puddles EVERYWHERE. Yesterday this massive truck got stuck in one of said puddles, and we tried to help pushing it out...we only made it worse. Oops. Anyways, the people called a tow-truck and all was well.

Sister Haner and I get along fantastically. She is great. I am very blessed to have her as my companion. I sincerely hope that I get to serve with her for another transfer!

We haven't been able to contact J, which is so sad, because she is our baptismal date. I guess not any more, because we haven't been able to meet with her in over a week. So sad. 

We went thrift shopping on Monday after emailing and it was glorious! So funny! Elder Hindes bought a suit for only 25 dollars and then wore it on Tuesday to District Meeting. It was so funny! 

On Tuesday Elder Sorenson nicked our phone when we weren't looking and deleted their number. Or so I thought...anyways, I texted them and after typing in their number I pressed send...and it said "sending to President Thomas". I almost had a heart-attack. It took a couple of seconds and then I realised that he hadn't deleted their number, he had changed their name to "President Thomas". So mean! That could have gone really bad...luckily it didn't!

At Sports Night we had a bunch of potential investigators and one of them is an eleven year old girl with the voice of an angel. Anyhow, she was talking to Sister Haner about how she loves singing and I asked her if she knew the cup song. She did. We then went to the kitchen to get cups and sang the cup song together. It was so fun! Anyhow, she is coming to Sports Night again tomorrow and I am so excited! 

We met an Austrian man yesterday and I had so much fun speaking German again! It was so strange though and I really had to think about words and sentence structure. I hope that I will still be able to speak it by the end of my mission!

Also, if you have time, check out the ward boundaries for Prince Albert on lds.org. They are HUGE! One lady came to church this past Sunday and it took her four hours just to drive here. Insanity!

I love being here in PA and I love this mission! I have some exciting news to share with you next week...it is going to be glorious!! Also, I just wanted to let you know that the ward members take very good care of me! We usually get fed every Sunday and one of the Sisters here bakes a ton of cookies for us! 

This week in my studies I have really been focusing on Humility. I never really considered myself as prideful, but after studying humility and getting chastised quite a bit I realised that it definitely is something that I need to work on. The more I study the Christlike attributes section in Preach My Gospel the more I realise how incredibly far away I am from being Christlike. I take it as an opportunity to change and grow, and am trying very hard to not get discouraged. One step at a time. And Sister Haner is really helping me a lot! 

This gospel is so true! And the more I read the Book of Mormon the more I love it! You should watch the Mormon Message entitled "Lifting Burdens". Mission- and life-changing. So good!

Oh, and I hope that you are excited for General Conference! I know I am!!!

Alrighty, I hope you have a great week and stay safe!

Elder Hindes wearing his suit and hat. So funny!

Elder Sorenson downloaded a picture of himself onto the computer...So I stuck his face all over the Family History Center

 Balut!

Search and Rescue

This Sunday the Bishopric was speaking and they all talked about Repentance. It was so good! 

We have been focusing on the Less-Active members throughout the entire mission and have been seeing a lot of success. Sister Haner and I committed one of the ladies we are working with to come to church and she came! And she liked it! And she has started reading her scriptures again and is praying more. We are so happy with the progress that she is making! This mission is a "Search and Rescue" mission, and President has asked us to especially focus on the rescuing part. It makes no sense for us to keep bringing people into the church through baptism when they fall away again.

Sister Haner and I get along just fine, and she makes me eat very healthily. She likes all natural products and what not. Also, she has put me on a ten-day chocolate fast, so that is coming along well and I actually feel a lot better...less sluggish and less tired. Also, I have not had a migraine since my first transfer, which is great! Heavenly Father really has blessed me with health. I have also gained four kilograms, so I guess I'm not underweight anymore! Sister Haner has made me learn to be grateful that I now have a normal body weight. She is seriously the best, and this district is incredible. I thought it would be really hard to get a district as great as the one in Brandon...but all I needed to do was come to PA! Elder Hindes (my district leader) knows pretty much everything about me, because he is so good at asking questions. I asked him how he manages to get people to tell him their life-stories, because the majority of the questions he asks are really personal, but when he asks them you just want to tell him everything! He said it's because he genuinely cares about the people that he talks to. I need to be more like Elder Hindes when it comes to asking questions. I really need to learn to have more love and charity for everyone that we work with!

So, this week we went on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders. I went with Sister Harrison and it was so fun! We got horribly lost...multiple times...but hey, now I know the area even better! I have seen pretty much every corner of Prince Albert, and I love this city even more now. Sister Harrison said that I taught very well and was impressed that I knew the names of all the Ward members. We saw so many miracles on that exchange! Jodie's boyfriend, who has refused to talk to us the entire time, came downstairs and introduced himself to us. We invited him to sit in on the lesson and he almost did, but I guess playing Grand Theft Auto was more important at that time :D 

This week I got given a lot of very nice things. Two children made me bracelets (I wear them whenever I know that they are going to be around) and all the missionaries got given gift cards for groceries. So nice and kind and thoughtful! We are all so grateful and it is truly such a blessing that the ward members take such good care of us. I love this ward!

We went to a round dance and I loved it! It was so powerful, I got goosebumps. I love learning about the Native culture and I am sad that I hardly know anything. Since being here I have developed a weird obsession for feathers and dream catchers :D

We went over to a member's home and his wife made Filipino food for us. It was delicious!!! But...this evening we are going to have a YSA-FHE activity and one of the members is bringing Balut (or however you spell it) for all the missionaries...so I might just die. I am honestly terrified, but it will sure make for a funny story to tell in ten years!

Anyhow, sorry to end my email on that note...everything is great here in PA, other than the fact that it is still freezing cold...but no worries, I just checked the weather and today is a toasty -22 degrees Celsius. Wahoo!

Driving to a member's home...

Diabetes Treasure Chest

Quite a few things happened this week, so I'm just going to jump into it!

The only piece of meat that I have had to eat all week was a small piece of Turkey. It was great! Eating all this fruit and all these vegetables has really been helping me stay healthy.

Sister Haner is seriously the best. We are the same person. She loves Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. So great.

The snow here is starting to melt. That means that there are super big slush and water and mud puddles EVERYWHERE! It's like driving through a lake and it's really fun, except for the fact that our car is now absolutely filthy.

We went over to a member's home and they apparently take mugshots of all the missionaries. Unfortunately I looked really bad that day...they still took the picture of me. It actually looks alright.

I learned how to pin the squares of a quilt together and I'm sure that soon I will learn how to sew with a sewing machine.

Elder Jordan made me a bunch of CDs to listen to in our car and they are the best. He is so nice! He also gave me a tie so that I can start trading with the other Elders to build up my tie-empire. Tie-trading is practically a sport here, and I plan on getting very good at it.

They closed down one of the streets because of all the slush and ice and when they opened it up again they somehow didn't turn the traffic light on properly, so it was always red. Anyhow, we pulled up to this traffic light and there were about five cars just standing there, waiting for it to turn green. We knew that it was broken, so I jumped out, ran up to the pedestrian crossing, pushed the button and sprinted back (I slipped and slid more than I ran) to the car. As soon as I jumped in the car the traffic light turned green and we were able to drive. I had to laugh the entire time, from when I first jumped out of the car to when I jumped back in and then Sister Haner and I laughed for about ten minutes straight. It was so funny.

We received a banana-bread-baking-kit from a member and it was great. I was brave enough to try some of it and I really liked it! Maybe I will conquer my fear of bananas out here.

All the missionaries in PA provide service at the food bank and afterwards we are allowed to go into the basement and go through the sweets and it's like a treasure hunt. We call it the "Diabetes Treasure Chest" and it is glorious. We picked up so much chocolate and so many other sweets...We now have an entire cupboard in our kitchen that is filled with sweets and chips and cookies. So much joy.

I got a hair cut. It is now even shorter, which I am not too sure about, but it sure makes it easier to manage. Also, it was free! One of the members is a hairdresser and said that she would love to cut our hair. Then we asked her how much she charged she just said "For you, nothing." It was so great!

There is a recent convert here who is just the greatest. His name is E and at Sports Night he got me to read him a talk by Elder Holland...in German. It was so fun, and he really liked it. He is seriously the most incredible person. He talks about the gospel with his friends and really wants to serve a mission. He will be a fantastic missionary once he gets out there!

We visited another member and her husband and they have a cat that loves to nibble on toes. Only my toes though...so that was a rather interesting experience.

Yesterday two guests, who had just returned from their mission in Russia, gave talks in sacrament. They were brilliant. Her talk was fantastic and he said something that really gave me chills. He said that the lost tribes are not lost to him, they are in Russia. Hardly anyone there that gets their patriarchal blessing is from Ephraim or Manasseh and they know someone from every tribe. The gathering of Israel is happening! It's sooo exciting! Also, She said that the Winter here was colder than in Siberia. Can you believe that? I survived!!!

As to spiritual things that happened this week, Sister Haner and I have really been striving to be exactly obedient, especially in going to bed on time. The Lord truly does bless us when we are exactly obedient. Also, we have been trying to focus on doing everything that Preach My Gospel teaches and we have been seeing more success! I love Preach My Gospel, and I love Sister Haner! I have learned so much from her!

The church building in PA

Well...I Am Finally in Prince Albert!!!

I left Brandon and 6AM on Thursday morning and arrived in PA at 10AM on Saturday. This mission is so big!

PA is actually warmer than Brandon (currently +5), so I am sooo grateful for that! My new companion's name is Sister Haner and she is a sweetheart. She is from Utah and is a vegetarian. She is a great missionary and we teach very well together. I have already learned so much from her, especially learning to recognise the promptings of the Spirit. They happen so much more than I originally thought! We teach a lot here in PA, which is really good.

The Elders in my district are great. They are all from Utah and their names are Elder Hindes (my District Leader), Elder Sorenson (his companion), Elder Hanson and Elder Jordan. They are super funny and are really nice to Sister Haner and I.

Our apartment is great, the Relief Society in our ward made sure that it was well furnished and clean before the Sisters arrived. They even made quilts for our beds! So kind. Our shower is possessed, as it goes from freezing cold to boiling hot and then back again ALL THE TIME, so showering is not really enjoyable.

We have a brand new car, it is a Chevy Trax and it is rather large. I now have to jump up to get in the car, instead of sitting down.

The ward is great, except everyone shows up at least twenty minutes late to church. So we need to do something to change that because it is very distracting. Anyhow, it was announced in sacrament meeting that I would be speaking, so I thought that I was supposed to get up and introduce myself and bear my testimony, just like I did in Brandon. That is what I did, and then after church people thanked me for my talk and Sister Haner asked if the bishop had coordinated me speaking on Sunday beforehand and I just hadn't told her. Apparently I was supposed to give a talk, only nobody told me. I hope someone learned something from what I had to say though. We also had to teach Sunday School, because the teacher didn't show up to church because she/he was sick. So we had to throw a lesson together, and it worked out really well!

Anyhow, it was really hard to leave Brandon and I shed quite a few tears. When we drove from Winnipeg to Regina we stopped in Brandon to get gas and I almost started crying again, because it only would have taken five minutes and we would have been at the church building. I am very grateful for the time that I got to spend in Brandon, and though I miss it very much, I know that I am in PA for a reason. It feels right, and I feel motivated to be the best missionary I possibly can.

Transfer meeting in Winnipeg was crazy, we had over 80 missionaries there. I got to see Sister Ashton-Korn again and it was a most joyous reunion. I was so incredibly happy and we just talked for ages and laughed so much! It was great. We even got to stay with her and her new companion for the night and we stayed up really late and just talked. I really hope that I get to serve with her one day, but unfortunately I don't think that that is going to happen.

Our mission got the go-ahead to do online proselyting, and it is the first mission in Canada to start that. So that will be really exciting! It will be interesting to learn how to do online proselyting and I am excited for this change in missionary work. The youth here are elect and that is the best way to communicate with them. Things are really changing here in Canada and I am so happy and privileged to be a part of it all. This really is the best mission in the world!

I finally got to see Sister A-Korn again!

 My new companion, Sister Haner

The greatest person in the world                                 

Elder Schmidt's boots are HUGE

Well...I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED!

I am rather sad, but at the same time really excited for all the new experiences that await me! When we told C and B, C looked over to me, started to tear up and said "you can't leave, you just got here!" That broke my heart and I had to book it out of there, or I would have started crying. I held it together until we got to the car. Yesterday was quite rough too. I heard a lot of "What? You just got here, you can't leave already!" I never realised just how much the members love the missionaries here until I saw the Relief Society President start bawling after she told me that her granddaughter was not pleased that I am leaving. It was really sad. I am so grateful that I was able to begin my mission here in Brandon. really could not have started in a better area. Sister McPhee is getting transferred to Wanuskewin and will be my Sister Training Leader), Sister Day is staying here and will be training. I am getting transferred to Prince Albert, Saskatchewan to serve with Sister H All I know about PA is that it is way up North and freezing cold. Also, it has only been open to missionaries for two transfers. I am rather scared, but really excited too. It will take about twelve hours for me to get there...Sister McPhee and I will hop aboard theTransfer Train, which is a 15-seat family van, and drive to our new areas. I might just go crazy on the way there. This mission is sooooo huge!

This week we had a record cold day. It was freeeeeeeeeeeeezing, and by freezing I mean-52...and were out and about. I thought that my face was going to burn right off. This year Manitoba has had the longest, coldest Winter in 35 years. I survived! At least I have so far. I have never before had to run from the cold, but as soon as we get out of the car we sprint to wherever it is that we are going because it is just too cold to walk at a normal pace!

I can't believe that I have already been out for three months. It's crazy! It feels like I just got here, but at the same time it feels like I have been here forever. It's so strange,  but I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Not very much else happened this week, as we have pretty much just been stopping by to say goodbye to people.

I did have a burger that was made of deer meat. It was really good! Also, the people we had the burgers with bought us a cake that said "Farewell, we will miss you!" So sweet. I really love Brandon and I am so grateful for the people that I have met here. They have blessed my life in so many ways and I have learned so much from them

Last day at the Soup Kitchen!

CWM with Elder B