Happy New Year

1 Me and our ham...I am not even kidding when I say she gave us an entire ham
2- New Years Eve... I even had a diet coke!!
3 - Ryan's Baptism...that is his family




Hey Family!!

Sorry you didn't get my email last week! I sent it again...so tell me if you got it! Did you all have a Happy New Year?? I hope so! We have started the entire year where I will not see you!! Crazy eh?! Well I had a pretty eventful week...Tuesday we had DDM's and went to lunch with our district. And we emailed that day...sorry again that you didn't get last weeks email...after we studied we had supper with a cute little family and then had a lesson with Ryan and Amanda. We prepared him for baptism and went over the BI questions and qualifications! Of course he passed with flying colors! On Wed we studied and did service and had lunch with Helen. It is really hard for us to teach her...she says she will come to church and pay her tithing but she won't have anything to do with the temple or some of the other commandments...so we don't really know the best way to help her. That day we also taught Dora. We taught tithing and fasting and we thought if she had any problems with the commandments it would be that one...but she was totally ok with it. She told us that they already did that in Ghana so no problem there!! For the rest of that day we did tons of stop-bys...let me just tell you something that wasn't great about this week!! In about 72 hours we had 8 appts cancel on us...it was sooo not fun...but such is the life of a missionary! so oh well...Thursday was Weekly Planning off and on throughout the day...I don't know why, but Thursdays are always some of our busiest days!! So we just squeeze in our planning wherever we can. So that day we also taught Jason P the Plan of Salvation...and guess what he finally came to church! He promises us every week he will come and he finally did come once! But he disappeared right after Sacrament. So one of the lessons we had cancel on thurs was our dinner appt. but they felt bad and wanted to give us money to go out to eat. So that night we went to the closest thing we could get to a Mexican restaurant...there are hardly any here in Canada. We taught Ryan and Amanda and also Sister Paul, a great member, that evening. On Friday we had study and service and of course had more lessons cancel...but we were able to set some up for this week so that was good. Ryan had his BI and of course passed with flying colors!! And we got to do stop-bys all night. Saturday was the BEST day of my mission! We started off our day with a Specialized Training. It was all about planning and it was really good. At the begininng of the training President Archibald surprised us all and said we would have a 10 min 1st and 2nd...guess who got to do the 10 min 1st...you guessed it!! Sister Brower and I!! Sister Brower had never done it before and she did amazing!! Not many missionaries that have been out 2 weeks could do what she did!! I love her so much she is just so great!! So our day started out pretty great and then just got better from there!! After our training we had Ryan's Baptism!! It was the most special day!! I seriously can't even descibe in words how great this day was!!! There was just so much joy! Seriously it was so great!! So Ryan got baptized and I am so grateful I got to be part of it!! Something that was super special was that all the sisters that have been part of his teaching were given permission to come to the baptism...so Sister Hayes got to come...and it was great!! Sister Brower and I sang 'My Sould Hungered' and I have not felt the Spirit so strong in a long time than I did at Ryan's baptism! It was the greatest day!! It was New Years Eve and we had to be in our apartment by 6 so we didn't get to do anything else really. We still had fun though. We had chocolate fondu and all the missionaries got permission to watch 17 Miracles!! I love that movie!! I have so much respect for the pioneers!! It is seriously a miracle that they were able to go through everything they did and live!!! If you haven't seen that movie...WATCH IT!!!! It will change your life! We got our mail that day and I had a few packages so that was fun and we just had a relaxing evening...we didn't want to sacrifice our sleep so we celebrated the New Year at 10:30. It was definitely different from what I am used to, but we still had fun. Sunday was church so obviously it was great!! Sister Brower got to speak in both wards and we got to sing 'My Sould Hungered' in both wards...and we were also supposed to teach gospel essentials, but nobody showed up. We had 4 lessons that night with some members and also Dora! I have to tell you about our dinner appt that day...so it was with a family from the Philippines and they are great! They made ham and some Philippine Spaghetti...which was sweet and super delicous...but we were talking about how good the food was and Sister Cells turned to us and said "I am glad you like it because I made one for you to take with you." She cooked us an entire ham to take home with us...when are we ever going to eat it...I don't know...but it was very nice of her to think of us! So that was my week!! IT was pretty exciting eh?? Well I hope you have a great week!! And a very Happy New Year!!! Thanks for all your love and support!! I love and miss you all!!

Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

Finally updated

I've been a terrible mom! Kaitlyn asked me to keep her blog updated. Sorry to those of you who tried to follow her. I will try to be better. It is now up to date.

New Companion Sister Bower

1- Sister Brower and Me
2- My 12 Days of Christmas!!
3- Me with some of my favorite Elders that went home...Elder Mattinson, Elder Narayan, and Elder Henrie
4- Sister Hayes, Sister Hoyt, and ME

Week of Miracles

Hello!!

This week was a week full of miracles!!! Are you ready to hear about all of them! You totally should be! First things first...my new companion is so great!! You will hear all about her! So first on Tuesday we had p-day and it was exciting...it was a sad day though because I had to say goodbye to some great missionaries!! That night we went to the New Missionary Fireside. So all the new missionaries bore their testimonies and met their trainers. 3 new sisters came out...but when I saw Sister Brower...I knew she was going to be my companion! So she is great! We are basically the same person! She is from Rexburg, ID and is a music major. She is amazing...we will just leave it at that!! On Tues night since it was Sister Hayes and I's last night together we had a sleepover by our fireplace. It was fun. Wed we went to the transfer station...which meant more goodbyes...Sister Hayes got transferred to the west part of Calgary. I got my new comp and we got to work!! I introduced her to a lot of amazing people...and it was fun! We taught a lesson to the Nilsson family and they invited us to go to the Nativity Pageant with them this week. So that will be fun. On Thursday we had a busy day! Weekly planning and then a lunch appt with Helen (LA) and then 4 other lessons that afternoon and evening...and because Sister Brower is so amazing guess what she did without me even having to ask her!! She did a 7 Day Challenge on her 2nd day! I am so grateful she is so easy to train! To be honest I don't even feel like I am training her!! Which is nice! On Fri. we visited lots of potential and former investigators, but nobody wanted to talk to us. But there were some people that told us to come back after the holidays! That evening we had a lesson with Mark!! We talked about Alma 22 and receiving answers to prayers with him. Sister Brower invited him to be baptized and after we talked about it and he thought about it he accepted Dec 24...but he didn't come to church on Sunday...so I don't know if he will be baptized on Sat...but that would be the best Christmas present! As you can see Sister Brower is just great! Saturday the most amazing Miracle of my entire mission happened!! Are you ready!!!! So we were getting ready to leave our apartment and we got a phone call...it was from an unknown number. I answered it and it happened to be Ryan! I was nervous for a second and then he said he had been thinking about it and he wants to be baptized on Dec 31!!!! Not many people can say they have had people call them and ask to be baptized!! I am so excited and cannot even wait!! That day we just did some stop-bys and had dinner with a PM family. We taught Dora the Plan of Salvation that night and she still wants to be baptized on January 7. Sunday was great because it was church!! People are so nice here! We have been given so many Christmas presents!! One member even gave us a card...with American money in it...but later that day we had a correlation with the WML and had a few appts. Things are really great here!! I love being a missionary!!
Basically I have loved the 12 Days!! I couldn't wait so I started with 1 present a day! Thank you so much! I love the CTR watch and band! I got a lot of compliments on it at church and there were a few members that wanted me to ask you where you got it...I am most excited for the phone call in a few days!! Less than 7 now!! So we don't have skype available in our mission at this time, but maybe in the future is what we have been told. So I will hear from you around 12-12:30!!! Tell Sadie and Trevor congrats!! I wasn't able to watch the movie at the library, but I might ask a member to let me watch it on their computer....Well it sounds like things are going good at home! I love and miss you all!! Have a Merry Christmas and remember to think of Christ and all he has done for us!! We are so lucky to have the knowledge we have!! Have a great week!! Love you!!


Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant!!

December 13, 2011

Family!!!

Oh my what a week I had!!! I can't wait to tell you all about it!! Are you ready because a lot happened and it was a crazy week!! Well here goes...So last monday was obviously p-day...which is one of the greatest days...but anyways we did just the same old stuff that we do basically every week. You would think we would get more creative, but it is nice to spend time with other missionaries. But I wrote a lot of letters so that was good. We had dinner with a fun family and she made cafe rio salad for dinner and it was delicious...not as good as yours mom, but it was pretty good. They have the cutest kids ever. On Tuesday we had DDM's which was great and sad at the same time because half of my district is going home this week so it was sad to have to say goodbye! But we went out to luch at Tony Romas again and it was fun. That afternoon we had a few appts with Members so it wasn't extremely exciting. But funny story from DDM...when we were outside we started to have a snowball fight and one of the Elders threw a snowball aimed for another elder, but he ducked and it hit sister Hayes right in the eye. He felt so bad...I had to tell you this because there is a follow up story to come...so on Wed we did our service and then since Sister Hayes hadn't been feeling well for the last few days we met the Elders so they could give her a blessing. We had the great idea to give her a 'black eye' from the snowball. So with makeup we gave her a pretty good shiner! When the elders saw they freaked out and totally thought it was real!! It was hilarious!! I don't know how they believed us because we were both laughing so hard!! Then we had a few lessons. Our dinner appt for the night canceled so we decided to go out to dinner! We went to a yummy Chinese Restaurant. Then that night we taught Mark and not much is new with him. Thurs was planning day ans we had a few lessons with members. We also contacted a referral which was nice. That evening we went to the Relief Society Christmas party which was fun. That night we were praying and our phone rings...it was the Assistants...we were really scared for this call...but we found out that I...Sister Marchant... and training a new Sister!! I am so scared and super nervous and I have to leave Sister Hayes. I will be in the same area and she is getting transferred. I am so scared so PLEASE pray extra hard for me!! I am most sad to leave Sister Hayes...we have become great friends and it feels like I have been with her forever! On Fri we got together with a bunch of missionaries and we had breakfast with them. Then we had to go to the Trainers Training meeting for the rest of the day. It was very informational and gave me a lot of courage for the upcoming weeks. That night we went to one of the wards Christmas parties. We had a yummy turkey dinner. Saturday we helped Amanda wrap all her Christmas presents!! It was so much fun and it reminded me of wrapping all those reindeer presents! Can't lie I actually miss it!! Then we had a few lessons and went to the other wards Christmas Party and had another turkey dinner. They had a fun party and they had desserts from all over the world! It was cool. We left the party a little early to go teach a new investigator...her name is Dora. We taught her the restoration and she has a baptismal date set for Jan 7 so hopefully that will really happen. I have the faith that it will! Sunday was a fun day too. Of course it was church so it was obviously a good day. We had some lessons with some amazing families! and then we went to the church for the stake choir festival. All the wards in the stake sang Christmas songs! It was really good. That night we made some yummy treats for Monday. On Monday it was weird for it to not be p-day...so it was like a normal day for us! We had lunch with a LA member and that was good. She even came to church on Sunday which was great! We had a few appts with members and then we had a district dinner. We had steak and other yummy things. We made a dessert that Elder Narayan could have because it didn't have milk....we made black bean brownies and they were actually really good. You never would have guessed they had beans in them. We also made the yummy mix you sent me that we always make at Christmas time. It was fun! We had a lesson with Ryan and Amanda last night! Things went really well, but he still didn't set a date...but it can only be a matter of time because he is sooo ready!! It was hard to say goodbye to them!! But I will still be here to teach them and help them!!
I love being a missionary, but I can't wait for Christmas!! I have been counting down for over a month! I can't wait to talk to you! I will give you my phone number next week in my email so you can call me. So I have church at 11...do you think you could call at like 12:30? that would probably work better.
I am glad everything is going well at home! It sounds and looks like the party was fun! I am sad I missed it...but I will be there in a couple years!!! I am excited to start the 12 days of Christmas tomorrow! I get to meet my new companion tonight so next week I will tell you all about her! You are all in my prayers!!! I love you all so much!! Have a great week!!!

Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant!

Happy Birthday Elder Henrie

1- My district with E. Henrie and his cake
2- Me and Sister Hayes with our cute tiny Christmas Tree




Hello Family and Friends!!

How was your week? I had a pretty good week, but it was very slow and long with not very many appointments. But it was ok. I will tell you all about it! So Monday was p-day! We didn't do anything exciting. Just the usual...getting everything we need to done and then go to the church to spend time with other missionaries and write letters!! That night we had dinner with a part member family. They have a son on a mission, but the husband doesn't want to learn more until his son comes home. Crazy, but oh well. Tuesday was an ok day. We had district meeting and then we all went out to lunch at Tony Roma's. It was pretty good...and a great district bonding time! That afternoon we did my favorite thing...stop-bys...it wasn't exciting at all. We had dinner with a fun older couple from England. They were pretty great! That night we taught Mark...I don't know what to do with this kid...he still wants to be baptized catholic! Why?!? We told him he needs to be baptized by the Priesthood authority and that our church is the only church that has that authority....isn't it an obvious decision? Well he still wants us to come and teach him so we will continue to try and help him. On Wednesday we got a good snowstorm. Our car is not fun to drive in the snow...we did our service and then we did more stop-bys...everyone is too busy or sick. In the afternoon we met with Jason P. and just answered a bunch of his questions. We had dinner with a crazy family. Their kids were off the wall...it could have been because the missionaries were there, but they were out of control! But it was fun. Then we had an appointment with an older couple from England. They are raising their 2 granddaughters and it was fun to get to know them. That is one of the best parts of being a missionary...getting to know lots of different people! Funny story for the day...when we were out tracting, I was driving so Sister Hayes was my navigator. So all the streets here are basically named the same thing...like Erie Cres, Erie Rd, Erie Dr, etc...so we thought we were at the right house, so we went to talk to the people that lived there, but it was not the right house!! It was the right house number but not the right street!! This happened TWO different times just in that day!! It was pretty exciting. Thursday was planning day. At lunch time we went out to lunch with our district to a yummy Italian restaurant. While we were planning we made a cake and cupcakes because it was Elder Henrie's (ZL) birthday on Friday. So we were going to surprise him with a cake. Well he is from Manti and likes to hunt, so the other elders wanted to make the cake look like a deer so we let them make it look like a deer. It actually turned out really good! We had a dinner appointment and one other appointment with a member family, but they were just normal member lessons. We tried to stop by Brandon's house...the kid from last week...but he wasn't home. Friday was one of the LONGEST days ever!! We had service and then all day we tried to visit Potential and Former Investigators, but nobody was interested. We were supposed to surprise Elder Henrie with his cake, but he didn't have time to come to the church...that was pretty disappointing. That evening we had a correlation meeting with one of the Ward Mission Leaders. Saturday was a great day however! We took Elder Henrie his cake and he LOVED it!! Do you remember the lady that gave me that bracelet...? Well when we were done delivering his cake, we helped her clean her house and get ready for an open house she was having at her house that afternoon. I haven't been able to clean like that for a long time so it was actually very relaxing. I know I am weird! So then we took Ryan and Amanda to a baptism so that Ryan could see what it was like and what happens...but guess what...the zone leaders forgot to inform us that the time had changed to 2 hours earlier...so by the time we got there it was over!! We were disappointed, but we did show Ryan the font and answered some of his questions. That night we had Stake Conference! We got a new Stake Presidency so Elder Evans and Elder Deshler from the Seventy were both there. That night we got like 6 inches of snow!! So now we actually have a lot of snow! On Sunday it was the general session of Stake Conference and it was great! Sister Hayes and I were standing by the door greeting people when Elder Evans came in so we got to shake his had and meet him!! Then later in his talk he said he was greeted by sister missionaries and that elders are great, but there is just something about sister missionaries! It was pretty exciting. We had a few appointments that afternoon before we went to the Christmas Devotional!! It was really good! If you didn't get to see it watch it online!! The movie they showed about Christ was so great!! I love listening to our Prophet and the other General Authorities!!
So that was my week...not too extremely exiting! So just for a heads up next week is transfers so I will be emailing on Tuesday and also I found out about phone calls on Christmas...So you can call me anytime between 10-2 on Christmas I can talk for 45 min so I need you to tell me what time works best for you so I can coordinate with my companion! I will give you my phone number the week before so you can call!!
Tell Grandma and Grandpa that I love them and they are definitely in my prayers! And also tell them thank you for the $! Sage is still a stud even though they didn't win!! He is the best! Way to go B-Rad...becoming quite the ladies man are ya?? Keep it up!! Thanks Mom and Dad for sharing that scripture with me! It really made my day!! Well I hope you all have a great week!! I love and miss you all!!

Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant!

New Record - 88 Crepes

Hello Family and Friends!!!

I had such a crazy, but very eventful week!! It was a lot of fun, but very busy!! This week we have had a chinook...where it is warm and all the snow melted and it was like between 5-10 C all week. The good thing about chinooks is that is is warm, but the bad thing is that a lot of people get headaches...so I did have a headache basically all week and that wasn't fun! Anyways last Monday it was obviously p-day. Guess what we had to do...get our car fixed!! Seriously what is my deal and getting cars fixed. This time it wasn't anything that we did. We had a flat tire that needed to get fixed so we had to take time to do that. Later we had lunch with the elders at the mall and it reminded me of the upcoming black friday shopping and I can't lie, I was a little bit sad I wasn't going to be there!! After we got all of our other stuff done we went to the church to spend time with other missionaries. We almost didn't go because we weren't going to be able to be there for very long, but I am so glad we did because we got some mail!! Getting mail is seriously like the best thing ever!!!! That night we just had a few lessons with some members. Tuesday was a great/crazy day! So we had zone conference! It was really good. We were told to be prepared to teach a 10 minute 1st, 2nd, and 3rd lesson. Sister Hayes and I were freaking out. But our zone and district leaders told us to just really work on the 1st because President would probably call on older missionaries to do the 2nd and 3rd...well guess who got called to do the 3rd...you guessed it yours truely!! Sister Hayes and I were totally freaking out!! But I am not going to lie!! We totally rocked it and taught the lesson, invited to church, baptism, pray, and read the Book of Mormon all in 8 minutes!! Ya we are that good!! That day we got a yummy Thanksgiving lunch that our ward prepared for all the missionaries and it was delicious! We had a few other lessons that evening. On Wednesday it was service day and we cleaned all the windows and stuff. Those windows get dirty so fast!! And fyi...hockey players stink!!! But it sure is fun to watch! Anyways we had a lot of lessons and it was a really busy day. Our first one was with AnnMarie. She came to the churh last week looking for answers and a member from one of our wards set up an appointment for us to meet with her. We did and we answered all her questions and now she wants to learn more, but we can't teach her because she is YSA age so our zone leaders have to teach her becasue she is in their ward. Then we taught Brandon. He was a referral from the zone leaders. He was the first person they talked to after zone conference and he accepted a return appointment. We taught him the restoration, but he wouldn't set up another time to meet. But he did say we could come by later this week! So don't you worry, we will! Then we taught Jason (LA) really quick because we were running a little bit late. And then we moved on to our dinner appointment. The older couple who had us over for supper invited thier nonmember neighbor over and we taught her the Restoration. She doesn't want to learn more at this point, but it was fun to be able to get to know her and teach her. We had such a busy day!! We went from appointment to appointment...I wish everyday was like that! Thursday Thanksgiving!! I thought of you all day long!! I definitely missed being with you all that day! It was planning day for us and we are getting better at that! Sister Hayes wasn't feeling well so we met the elders at the church so she could get a blessing. That afternonn we taught the girl that is getting baptized in a few weeks the plan of salvation. He mom talks/teaches more than we do so we just gave them the pamphlet for the 3rd lesson so she can teach it. We also had a few lessons with members that day...we were a little disappointed that we didn't get a Thanksgiving dinner, but we did get a really good lunch earlier in the week so it was ok. Friday was a long day! I was again thinking about you and all your shopping! Very jealous. This year Canada had some really good sales...people are saying this is because lots of Canadians go to the states for the sales and they want them to stay in Canada and shop so they are starting to do a little bit of black friday! We didn't have a very exciting day, just did service and lots of stop-bys. We did teach Ryan and Amanda about the Book of Mormon and the 'Forget Me Not' talk by President Uchtdorf. Amanda loved it! Saturday we taught Ryan and Amanda again and we told Ryan that he is ready to be baptized and that he needs to pick a day in December to be baptized. He is almost commited to being baptized on December 31!!! And for the last few lessons their daughter who is 11 has sat in and she wants to learn now too!! It is so exciting for them to be taking these steps to come closer to Heavenly Father!! We had a few other lessons with Jason (RC) and a few members. We also had a correlation meeting. We weren't able to meet with Mark this week because his mom wasn't home and we couldn't find a member to come with us...but we are meeting with him tomorrow! Sunday was seriously the best day ever!!! First of all because it was church! So Sister Hayes asks all the members for their recipes. One of the people we had dinner with last week made homemade bread and she asked for the recipe. He said he just dumped everything in the breadmaker. But at church he was so touched that she asked for his recipe that he went and bought us a breadmaker so we could make our own bread!! And this thing is nice!! So now we get to make delicous bread! Another great thing about church was that the power went out!! We were sitting in Sacrament and it was fast sunday because we have stake conference next week and when someone was bearing their testimony the power went out! It was so windy that it knocked the power out. The winds were like 80-100 km per hour!! It was insane!! I have never been at church when the power went out so that was pretty exciting! Then the last exciting thing that happened yesterday was our dinner appointment. We had breakfast for dinner!! Crepe, bacon, and other yummy things. So the family was telling us that all the elders that have eaten at their house have a crepe eating contest...the most crepes that have been eaten was 43!! Well we ate our dinner and then they jokingly asked us if we wanted to try the contest. Somehow we agreed and guess how many crepes both sister Hayes and I ate....44 EACH!!! That is 88 crepes. Basically we were so sick and I don't know how we did it!!! But we beat all the elders and now have the record! We are the only sisters that have ever taken the challenge!! It was insane!! Well that was my week!! It sounds like you all had a great week!! What did dad talk about in his talk? That is exciting that the NBA is finally going to start!! Keep me updated! Tell Sage that we drive a 2011 Chevy Malibu. It is pretty nice, but sucks driving in the snow and ice...it is going to be a really long winter! I am sure dad will be able to do his Christmas shopping without my help! But I do have great ideas!! Well I hope you all have a great week!! Thanks for all your love and prayers!!! I love you all tons!!!

Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant!!!


My District / Zone Leaders
Me and Sister Hayes on Thanksgiving
Me and Sister Hayes eating the crepes

Happy American Thanksgiving

1- Me and Sister Hayes! I love her!!
2- Driving to church...yes that is ice on the inside of our car! It was -15 (3 F)
3- Bundled up to go outside! Don't you love our adorable Canada mittens...they are super warm!!

Hi Family and Friends!!

You guys are all so great!! Thanks for all your love and support! So this week was really long and cold and not a ton happened, but I will tell you the things that did! Last Monday it was of course p-day!! Hooray!! We got our hairs cut and did all our other stuff before we went to the church to spend time with the other missionaries. That evening we didn't have any appts so we did a bunch of stop-bys to meet some people. On Tuesday we had District Meeting! Afterwards we had a district lunch. We all brought something for the lunch. We we in charge of dessert. But we had to get creative because Elder Narayan is lactose intolerant. So we made muddie buddies with organinc semi sweet chocolate chips because they had no milk in them! They were super good. We also got another recipe to try for another time for black bean brownies...when/if we make it I will tell you how it goes! That afternoon we met with Jason (LA). He says he will come to church every week we teach him, but he has yet to come. The last time we taught him, we even taught him the 10 commandments and keeping the sabbath day holy. We are just going to tell him that someone is going to be picking him up for church, so he better be ready! We set up a few appointments that day as well before we had dinner with a great family! They are from England and they are just great! They have a son on a mission in Chile, so they are really into missionary work so they can have experiences to tell their son. On Wednesday we did service and then did some stop-bys to keep meeting people. One of these people were the Woods. They are an older couple and have served 3 missions. They remind me a lot of Grandma and Grandpa Gottfredson! They have served in New Zealand, Australia, and Grenada. They are just great and they sent us home with a lot of food and we didn't even eat supper with them! We ate with the Johnstons and they are a great older couple too!! It was fun to spend time with them and get to know them better! Thursday was planning day and it took us most of the day. That night we had dinner with another older couple and they made us like a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. It was really yummy! The people here in Canada are just so great! Everyone is so nice!!! That night we taught Mark. He is so confused! He still thinks he wants to be baptized Catholic. We asked him if he had ever been to a Catholic church and he said he hasn't. We tried to show him how Jesus Christ was baptized by someone who held the proper authority, and that we have to do the same, but he won't commit. It is pretty frustrating! On Friday we had service...This was the day that it got freezing cold!!! For the entire day it was -18 to -15 C which is 0-3 F...can you say cold!! ya it was! That day we got some mail! It is always so great to get mail! I got the card you sent mom!! Thanks for that! It meant a lot!!! That evening we had dinner with a family who's daughter is getting baptized soon and they want us to teach her the lessons. So we taught her the first lesson that evening. WE then taught Ryan and Amanda! They are so amazing!! We taught them the 3 big commandments, word of wisdom, chastity, and tithing. They said they would live all of them! When we asked Ryan to be baptized he paused for the longest time! I really thought he was going to commit to a date, but he didn't. He said he still isn't ready, but he sooo is!! Saturday was another FREEZING day! it was -16 all day long, but with the windchill it was more like -30 C (-22 F) We didn't have any appts set up that day so we did so many stop-bys and it was freezing and nobody was home! It was very frustrating. Then we took some time to clean our car because we have car inspections this week. We had a correlation meeting and then had another lesson with Mark. For this lesson we were able to bring a boy his age and his mom to the lesson and that was helpful for Mark to see that he friend he made in primary really believes in the things we are teaching him! He still wouldn't commit to a date to be baptized though. He didn't come to church this week either...I hope we can get to the bottom of his concerns and show him how important it is for him to be baptized. He just doesn't know what he wants! Sunday was a great day because it was church!! I love church! As you know I had to speak. I spoke on missionary work, and to be honest I kind of used my farewell talk I gave, but it went really well! We had another correlation meeting after church and then had supper with another AMAZING family. The Choy family. They are great and they come to a lot of lessons with us! they are great! it was a really good day and it was -10 all day! That was basically my week! It sounds like you all had a great week! Sage is such a stud! B-rad is pretty great too!! I hope you all have a Happy Thanksgiving!! I will definitely miss that! But I am most sad to miss Black Friday!! Shop really hard for me!! Boxing Day is Canada's equivalent and it is the day after Christmas. It will be a p-day this year and I already told my companion we are going to have to do some shopping!! Well I miss you all so much!! But I love you all even more!! Have a great week!! Much love from the north!!!

Love, Sister Marchant

November 14

Hello Everyone!!

How is everybody? I am doing fantastic. I had a pretty crazy week with lots of stuff going on! But it was good for us to be busy and have things to do. It is always better to have things to do than to have nothing to do as a missionary! So last week on Monday it was obviously p-day. We did all the things we do on p-day including going to the library to e-mail! That is one of my favorite things about p-day! When we were done with all our stuff we went to a church and spent time with the missionaries in our zone. We didn't do much there. I wrote letters and stuff. Some elders were playing basketball and then they played another game that I don't even know what it was. That night we had an appointment with a family that was supposed to have some nonmembers for us to teach, but they ended up not coming. But that was ok we still had a good time. Tuesday was a crazy day! So Sister Hayes and I were just finishing up our personal study at 9:00 when we got a phone call from our zone leaders. There was a Leadership Training Meeting going on from 9-6 and they failed to tell us we were supposed to be there. It was for all zone leaders, district leaders, and trainers and since we are kind of training we were supposed to go. So we hurried and gathered our stuff and were out the door by 9:15. That is pretty amazing. Then we hurried to the church that was 20 min away. It was a really good training, but it was really long!!! The other thing that wasn't very good was that we had 5 appointments for that day and we had to cancel all of them! That was not fun. We had that same meeting on Wednesday as well. It was good, but by that point Sister Hayes and I felt so inadequate. All the other missionaries that were there were really good teachers and stuff and we were like babies. But it was good and we learned a whole lot! On Thursday we had another training. It was a specialized training for all missionaries that had been out less than 6 months. At this training we felt out of place to because we had just spent the last 2 days with the older missionaries. But it was a good training and it was only 3 hours long. That afternoon we helped a member organize a ton of stuff for her business. It really helped her out. She makes her own jewelry and it is really good. She even makes a lot of her own beads. As we were leaving we were looking at some of her jewelry and she took a price tag off a bracelet and just put it on my wrist. She said it had my name on it! It was so nice of her! And it is a really cute bracelet. That night we had a lesson with our investigator Mark. As we were leaving he told us that he had made up his mind and wanted to be baptized Catholic. But he said he still wants to meet with us. So we will see what we can do. It is hard when nobody else in his house is religious and he goes to a Catholic School. But we haven't taught him again since then. That night we also taught our other investigator Ryan. His wife Amanda is a less active and she has had to quit smoking. She has now been smoke free for an entire week! She is so amazing and has gained so much self confidence. Ryan is so ready to be baptized, but he wont commit to a date. But he is so prepared. He says it is just a pride issue with admitting that life could be better with help from our Heavenly Father. But he is ready and every lesson we have with them is great! On Friday we had our service at the ice rink and then since we were busy on Thursday we had our weekly planning day. It took us most of the day, but we had a few appointments and we also met up with the elders in our district so they could give Sister Hayes and i both blessings. I love the power of the Priesthood! It is seriously amazing! I felt so good after I got a blessing and it was exactly what I needed! It was also Remembrance day which is like our Veterans Day and Memorial day rolled into one. It is a really celebrated holiday here in Canada. On Saturday we had a lesson with the Ryan and Amanda again and he still wouldn't set a date, but he has to be close! He really is so prepared! We had our correlation meetings with our Ward Mission Leaders and got some help from them. Both of our WML's are so great! They help us our with whatever they can! Sunday was church!! Hooray! I love church and being able to take the sacrament and renew my covenants with Heavenly Father! So when we got to church, we went and asked someone in the bishopric if we could get an updated ward list because ours is very old. He said he would give us one if we would do him a favor. We said we would and then he looked at me and asked if I would be the 'youth speaker'. Of course I had to say yes. I just talked for a little bit about prayer and the whole reason I am on a mission. It went ok. Then in our next ward our WML wasn't at church so we had to teach Gospel Principles too. It actually went pretty well too. But then next Sunday I have to talk in church too! I guess that is the life of a missionary eh? That was my crazy week. But it was fun. Sister Hayes and I are learning a lot!! Mom I read your talk and it sounded really good! I am sure it went well! And lucky dad gets to speak in a few weeks. I will try and think of some things he could say. That is pretty cool about Fremont! Is Braydon going to go to the game? Thanks for all the updates with everything! I love you all so much!!! And miss you a ton too!! Hope you all have a great week!! Thanks for all your prayers and love and support!!

Love, Sister Marchant

New companion and I'm a co-senior companion

Distsrict Gong Show

My new companion Sister Hayes. We are co senior companions. Hello Family!!

What a crazy week! I can't believe I am not in Okotoks anymore! I miss it and all my favorite people there! But my new area is great too. So my new companion is Sister Hayes. She is from Arizona and she is a convert of 3 years. She is amazing. We both came out together so we have both only been out for 6 weeks. The new training program they have for missionaries is 12 weeks so we basically have to finish training each other. All the other Sisters that came out with us still have trainers, but this transfer 4 new sisters came out and there were only 3 sisters that weren't already training. So Sister Hayes lost her trainer and Sister Hill went home. It is crazy! We are co-senior companions which is kind of nice. We both don't really know everything we are doing and exactly what to do all the time so we are definitely learning a lot!! Well anyways I will tell you about my week. So on Tuesday we had p-day and that was the day I found out I was being transfered so we spent some time saying goodbye to some people and packing. Then guess what we did...you guessed it...played volleyball at the church. That evening we had a lesson with Michelle and it was so hard to say goodbye to her! I love her and will miss her a ton. Wednesday was transfer day. All the missionaries that are getting transfered meet at the church and get everything ready to take to their new areas. This was where I had to say goodbye to Sister Hill and that was hard! I miss her so much already! She is just like a sister to me! When we got to our area I was able to unpack really fast and then we studied. When we were ready to leave we just went by some houses so that we could meet some people. Since Sister Hayes and I are both new we don't know very many people. It wasn't a very exciting day. On Thursday it was planning day and it took us all day. I am not even kidding you from 10 am to 5 pm we planned for our week. We did have an appointment with a member for like 45 min, but other than that it was straight planning. It was a long day. That night I met our investigator Mark. He is 11 and wants to join a church, he just isn't sure which one. He likes what we teach him and he believes it and he has come to church 2 times already. He has a tentative baptismal date set for November 19. On Friday we did our service. I liked the service in Okotoks a lot better! Shelving books was fun. Here we give service at an Ice Rink and we empty garbages, clean windows, and help them clean up after an activity for little kids. That day we also taught a few LA's and set up a few appointments for this week with some people in our wards. It also snowed that day, but not very much. But it did get to -7 degrees. I think that is like 19 or something. I am not excited for the winter! On Saturday we visited some people and also went to the RS Super Saturday activity, but we got there right at the end. They made some really cute crafts though. We had a correlation meeting that afternoon and had a lesson with Mark again that night. Sunday was church and so we were there for most of the day. After church we went to Bishop Vance's house for a lesson with his family and a quick dinner. Then we had another correlation meeting. By then we finally found time to study and get ready to teach a LA Van who is a very deep man. You totally have to pay attention to everything he says and even then it is hard to know what he is relating to. But it went well. That was basically my week. We live in an apartment...which is not very fun. Living with members is so much better! I loved living with Sister Landry. She always took care of us! But it is nice to have our own space as well. Tell Sadie Happy Birthday this week! Here in Canada they totally go all out for Remembrance Day (Nov 11). Good luck on your talk mom! I have to give a talk in one of our wards on Nov 20. They said I could talk on whatever I want but I have to talk for like 20 min...not very excited for that! How is basketball going for Sage? And has the NBA season started yet? That is pretty cool about Fremont! So in a few weeks Sister Hayes and I have to bring a dessert to a meeting we have. We want to make that mix stuff that you sent me...the stuff we make at Christmas. Will you sent me the recipe? Well I hope everything is well! I miss you all and love you all so much!! Have a great week!!

Happy Halloween and a Transfer to Queensland/Parkland

Sister Landry found me a costume for Halloween

Sister Landry, my landlord and her friend from the Philippines.

The First Snowstorm of the year.

Hey family!I just found out I am getting transfered today. I didn't think I would because Sister Hill is leaving, but I am going to Queensland/Parkland in the south of Calgary. My new companion is Sister Hayes. She came out with me so we are both in the same place. This week wasn't very exciting and not much happened but I will tell you all about it anyways! For pday last week we just played volleyball at the church...I am actually getting better if you can believe that. On Tuesday we had DDM and it was a complete gongshow!! The Elders in my district are crazy, but they are great. There is definitely never a dull moment. That evening we just followed up with some members and taught a lesson to Sister Halowski, a single sister, and her LA son Matt. We taught them about the Plan of Salvation. On Wed we did our library stuff and then we thought we were going to have a great day because we had a lot of appts set up, but guess what...you guessed it they all canceled, except for one. So it made for a long and cold day of stop-bys which are not my favorite. Like I said last week it is starting to get cold here and that is not very fun. This week we were around 0-6 everyday. On Thurs we had our weekly planning and it took all day. I had to basically do it because Sister Hill wasn't going to be here, but now I am not going to be there either...In the middle of our planning we had a lesson with Sara D and we watched the movie about President Monson. She really liked it! That night we had dinner with a member of the Bishopric in Dewinton and they invited Michelle to come with us. So we all went to their house and had dinner. It was really nice of them to do that and they got to know her! It was so great because she has so many friends in the ward and that is what every convert needs! On Fri we did our library stuff and then we had to go to the mission office in Calgary. The check engine light on our car came on and we had to go switch it for a new one. The office was a happening place. When we were there I got a package, but I figured it was my Christmas...so one of the Senior couples opened it for me to make sure. And it was! So it is here. I loved the yummy treats you made me and it totally reminded me of home! I had them keep it at the office until it is closer to December so i wouldn't be tempted by it! That afternoon we did some tracting on the acreages and had dinner with the Halowski's. Saturday we had lunch with Sister Lacey who is great! They were doing some excavating to fix a pipe or something so it was a big mess. We tracted some acreages again that day and then we had dinner with a family that night. I learned that they have 10 kids and guess what! Their youngest is 9 and a half and he is not baptized yet!!! Do they not realize that if he died his sins would be on their heads? It was crazy!! They were a crazy family. But anyways on Sunday we had church and it was the primary program. It was really cute. That evening we had dinner with the Deyholos family. Their son just got home from his mission in Ogden. There is another kid from one of the wards I am in that just got home from Ogden this week too. But when we were going to their house we got so lost and we even had a map. But we eventually found it but we were like 20 min late. Oh well what can you do. We had a few other apps with members that night too. Yesterday was Halloween!! Hooray! It even snowed, but not very much and then it all melted. We had an appt with Sara D. and she took us to lunch. We also had one with Sis Lacey, but stuff with their excavating was going bad and she was so stressed out and had lots of work to do. So instead we went home and changed so we could help her out. She really appreciated it. We had dinner with a part member family that night and they had really yummy chinese food from Calgary. After that we went home because we had to be home by 6. Sister Landry had some costumes for us to dress up in so we could be festive and we passed out candy at her house! It was pretty fun! That was my week. Not very exciting. But it sounds like you all had a good Halloween! I can't wait to see pictures! Way to go Sage at winning the donut contest! That is pretty disgusting that you ate it off the floor though! We do have daylight savings time here in Canada still and I can't wait to get an extra hour of sleep! It will be so nice! Well I hope all it well! I love you all so much!! Love, Sister Marchant

Big Rock and Michelle's Baptism

Michelle's baptism :)

Big Rock

Me and Sister Hill at Big Rock

Big Rock in Okotoks

Hey family!! How are you all?? Life in Canada is pretty great still. Surprisingly it hasn't been to extremely cold yet...we actually had some really nice days this week...but everyone keeps saying the snow is coming soon! That does not excite me...ps Tanner 75 is NOT cold that is like heaven! Anyways I had a great week so let me tell you all about it!! Last monday for pday we had lots of stuff to do. Sister Hill got a haircut and I got my hair trimmed. Then we did some shopping and I got a few suit coats because I have to wear one like every other day and wearing the same one got boring. Then we met up with the Elders and we went to "Big Rock" that is what Okotoks means in some language...but guess what, it wasn't very big. But it was still fun. That evening we had a lesson with Michelle and she totally decided to be baptized!!! I was so happy! Tuesday we tracted a little bit and had a lesson with Sara D. We taught and committed her to live the Word of Wisdom. As we visited other potential investigators we talked to a few of them. We taught one of them, Colin, in his driveway but then when we got about half way through the first lesson life happened and it was crazy so we told him we would come back. We taught Sis Landry that evening. On Wednesday we had to go to the library and then we had a lesson with Freda. She is our 80 yr old investigator and I finally met her and taught her. Sis Adams came with us and was happy that she was finally home. Sis Hill said she was a completely different person because she actually said she would think about being baptized and that she would maybe come to church in the future. So that is exciting. We will teach her again this week. We had to clean and wax our car that afternoon for car inspections. That night we had dinner with Haley and it was good. I love her so much too! She is so great! That night we met with Michelle and went over the baptismal interview questions with her. Thursday was planning day, but we had to do it super fast, because we had to finish cleaning our car a little bit and then we had to go to car inspections and interviews with President. It was good and we got some training. But I got mail that day and I got the treats and lotion you sent me!! Thanks so much for that! I loved it! When we got home Sis Landry ordered pizza for us for dinner because our dinner appt canceled on us. She is so great. She also came to our lesson with Michelle that night. We had to teach her the last few commandments so she was all ready to be baptized. After that we went to a RS activity for the DeWinton ward and they were talking about fast and easy meals. It was pretty good, and we met a few new people which was nice. That day marked my 1 month anniversary in Canada. Can you believe it?? I honestly can't! But it has been great! On Friday we had the library and then we practiced a musical number that Sis Hill and I sang at the baptism with a lady in the ward. After that we tracted a little bit and I officially got a door slammed in my face for the first time. All we said was Hi. But oh well. We had a few appt with members and did a little more tracting before Michelle had her baptismal interview. She of course passed with flying colors!! She is so great! We had a dinner appt and then Michelle called us and she was freaking out!! We were nervous so we went to her house and helped her calm down and talked things out with her. By the time we left she felt better and was ready to be baptized the next day. Saturday was Baptism day!! Yay! Michelle's baptism was AMAZING!! Seriously convert baptisms are amazing. She was so happy. We sang 'My Soul Hungered' at the baptism and it was so good. The whole thing was just great! Seriously it was like Christmas, and you know how much I love Christmas! I also got my coat that you sent me!! Thank you so much!! And thanks for the headband too! I was so excited! That evening there was a ward activity and it was a family dance. We went for a minute, but they were playing worldly music and it was soo weird. I haven't listened to anything but church music for almost 2 months and it was weird. So we left and we visited some people and set up appts to see them this week. We have a lot of appts set up for this week so it will be nice and busy. Sunday was obviously church and Michelle was confirmed. She was 10 min late to church and we were freaking out a little bit. But she made it just in time and it was great! We watched the Joseph Smith Movie with Sis Landry that afternoon and then we had a lesson with a LA family. We got to know them and they agreed to let us come and teach them the lessons. That was exciting. So that was basically my week. It was a pretty good one if I do say so myself. Just an FYI next week is transfers so our p-day will be on tues. So don't freak out when you don't get an email on Mon. It is Sister Hill's last week and that is sad! But it also leaves us in a pickle. There are only 4 sisters that aren't training a new sister right now and there are 4 coming next week...so I will be without a trainer...because the training program is 12 weeks...and there aren't enough sisters to train. Sister Hill is convinced that I will be training and that freaks me out a lot. But we will find out this week. Sounds like everything is good at home! Way to go Sage in your basketball game! Keep up the good work! I am glad you were able to go fishing...I didn't miss going on that little trip though. That is so nice of you to do that for Sis Grigor! I haven't seen her for a few days. But I am sure she didn't care it was a day late! At least she got her cake! Well I hope you all have a great week! I miss you and I love you all a whole bunch!!Love, Sister Marchant

Canada Thanksgiving

A funny road sign in Okotoks.

Sister Hill and I raking leaves with Michelle.

Sister Hill and I at Thanksgiving Dinner. In Canada they celebrate Thanksgiving in October.

Me with Elder Cevering from my High School

Hey family!What a crazy but good week I had!! Let me tell you all about it! So on Tuesday we had our District Meeting and Lunch which was normal. Then we went to all the car places in Okotoks so we could get someone to fix our tire! The soonest anyone could do it was Wed so we had to live with that. We had a lesson with Haley that afternoon and we talked about Family History. She is so excited to do her family history, because as far as she knows she is the first member of her family. We were able to show her family search and I logged in and showed her all of my family history that was on there and it was neat! She is so excited which is great! That evening we went to help Michelle rake leaves. We were raking and talking to her and Sister Hill asked her if she was getting answers to her prayers. She said that when we were done we could go inside and talk about it. So when we were done we basically had a lesson with her and she said she wanted to be baptized on October 29!!! I was so excited!!! She is so ready and prepared to be baptized! So that was a pretty good day! On Wed we had a specialized training in Calgary, but we had to get our car fixed so we made all the elders drive together so we could drive one of their cars. It was a crazy day! The training was so good. It was given by the AP's and President Archibald and his wife. While there Sister Hill and I both felt that we needed to ask Michelle to change her baptismal date to the 22nd of October. More on that later...but when we got home we were just out visiting some members and tracting a little when Sister Landry told us she wanted us to meet her friend that was at her house. It was a lady she works with and she is from the Philippines. Sister Landry gave her a Tagalog Book of Mormon and she said she would be interested in learning more when she has time. So that was exciting. Thursday was not so exciting! But it was my half birthday...It was planning day and we had a lot of stuff to plan! That afternoon we met with Haley to help us make something we are giving to Michelle this week. That evening we went to Crystalridge RS where they finished making the dresses and sock monkeys for Africa. We couldn't stay to long because we had a lesson with Michelle. We brought a member with us which was amazing!! We taught her about the commandments and a few other things. We talked about how baptism is a commandment and then I told her that both Sis Hill and I received revelation that she should move her baptismal date. She said she would think about it and pray about it and let us know. I was so afraid to ask her, but I did it! On Friday we had a retraining meeting in Calgary! All the new missionaries and their trainers went! So I got to see Sister Newby and Sister Hoyt and other people. I also saw Elder Cevering which was cool. I haven't seen him since High School. He goes home at the end of the next transfer. When we got back to Okotoks we had a lesson with Sara D. (LA) and we taught her the plan of salvation. We booked the font for October 22 to show Heavenly Father that we have faith and are going to do everything in our power to help Michelle get baptized that day! That evening we visited a few families and taught them a quick lesson. Sat was a good day. We got a visit from the Elders because they got a new companion on Fri. He is from Cardston and is waiting for his Visa so he won't be here very long, but they needed some blankets so they came and got some from us. Then we set out for the day. We didn't have any appointments set up for the day so we did a lot of tracting! We talked to a ton of people. Not very many were interested, but we did find a few potential investigators! So that was exciting! The elders had a baptism and we invited Michelle to come, but she didn't. She made other plans. We visited some members that evening and had a few lessons with them. Sunday was of course great! Church is always good! Michelle didn't come though...it was disappointing. She said she slept in because she was out late the night before. But don't you worry, she can/will be baptized!! I have so much faith that she will!! That evening we had a few appointments with members and we had some good lessons with them. I met a new family that evening that is so great! They are the Stevensons and they have so much faith! We had a really good lesson with them. We had a some 7 day challenges this week and we need to follow up with them so we can get the members more involved with missionary work. A 7 day challenge is where we challenge the members to find someone to invite to their home to have a lesson with the missionaries within the next 7 days. I had a good Thanksgiving. We ate the traditional thanksgiving food which was yummy. It is starting to get a little colder now...the average this week was about 9 or 10...remember that is Celsius, everyone keeps saying this winter is supposed to be the worst they have had in awhile...that isn't very exciting to me! Tell Sage he is so great! I am so glad he is doing good in school! Is he still reading?? Tell Braydon congrats on everything! all the boys will have fun at the dance! I love Canada and the people are great! it is so great to be a servant of the Lord! I love being a missionary! I love and miss you all soo much!!!Love, Sister Marchant

October 11, 2011

Hi family!Sorry I totally forgot to tell you last week that I would be emailing on Tuesday! I hope you didn't freak out or anything! But yesterday was Canadian Thanksgiving! But let me give you a recap of my week! Last Monday was p-day of course and we didn't do anything extremely exciting. We did our shopping and then went to a park by a river for awhile before we went to the church and played volleyball. But that evening we had dinner/FHE with a family from one of the wards and they are so gung-ho about missionary work and it was great. They got the 7 day challenge, and they are really making efforts to get people for us to teach! We taught Heather B. (LA) the message of the Restoration that night as well. On tues we had DDM (district meeting) and lunch. This week we went to McDonalds and the Elders are convinced they are going to win Monopoly...they are crazy! That afternoon we did some service for Sis Landry because she works a lot and her daughter came to visit this week for Thanksgiving. Also that afternoon Sis Hill wanted to get a blessing so we met up with the District Leader's and they gave us both blessings! I love the priesthood! I would seriously be lost without it! Wed we did our service at the Library and then had a lesson with Haley. She is so great. We talked to her about Conference and then watched a Mormon Message. I love those they are so great! That day there was a family in one of our wards that was moving so we helped them clean their house so they could move and we taught a LA family that is struggling with their testimonies as well. Thurs was not the best day until that evening. We are really trying hard to find new investigators and we have made lots of plans of ways to help us do that. So on thurs we were out tracting on some acreages and we didn't have any luck, but we did talk to lots of people which was good. But what made that day good was the lesson we had with Michelle. We taught her at Haley's house!!! It was so great to have a member there with us! Having a member in a lesson makes such a difference!!!! Seriously it was the most amazing lesson! Sister Hill and I hardly did anything. Haley did like all of the teaching! She answered all of Michelle's questions and addressed all of her concerns and it was soo great!! We thought Michelle would totally commit to baptism, but once again she said maybe. Friday we were at the library again. It feels like we are there everyday, but it really isn't bad...we just get to look at all the books that we cant read...that afternoon we taught Sara D (LA) the message of the restoration and we are going to teach her all of the lessons. We were supposed to have a lesson with our other investigator Freda that afternoon and we brought Sis Adams with us...so we could have a member with us...but she wasn't home!! We are trying to get a hold of her, but we think she might have gone out of town for Thanksgiving. That night Sis Landry made us dinner, she made homemade cabbage rolls. We had some lessons set up for that evening, but they all canceled on us, but we ended up stopping by some housed and taught a family and they basically 7 day challenged themselves. It was pretty great! On saturday we had no appts so we tracted a lot and had no luck. When we were on our way to our dinner appt guess what happened...we got a flat tire!!! Sis Hill turned a corner too sharp and our back tire hit a storm grate and our tire got a hole in it!! it was flat in less than 2 min. So we called our dinner appt and she sent her husband and son to come put our donut tire on. So we are going to get that fixed today. on sun Michelle came to church and stayed for the entire 3 hours!!! It was great, but in RS they talked about the gathering of israel and she was so lost. but the rest of church was so good and meant just for her. We had a Thanksgiving dinner with sis Landry and her family that afternoon and then we just went and walked around. We talked to so many people, but nobody was very interested. Yesterday was Thanksgiving and P-day!! They had zone p-day in Calgary where they had a turkey bowl and everything, but we couldn't go because we didn't want to drive our car that far. so sis Hill and I had a p-day by ourselves, it was very relaxing though. after we went shopping we went to the church and played the piano and wrote letters it was great! That night we had another Thanksgiving dinner...and let me tell you that much food in 2 days is not very fun! But it was good. We had another lesson with Heather F. and it was a good day. But that is a recap of my week! It sounds like everyone is doing good. I can't believe that Sage is using my phone...That is so great that Grandpa is cancer free!! how is grandma doing? I will work on getting a Christmas list to you. but things are good I am a little homesick, but not too bad. Okotoks is a lot like home and it is nice. I cant believe it already snowed in Utah. We have snow on the mtns here, but it hasn't snowed in the city. It has been a really nice week weather wise. it has been about 7-9 C...that is like 35-40 F. It is really cold in the mornings though, so we exercise inside...we are running out of things to do! Do you have any ideas?? I don't see my Mission Pres very often...i have only seen him once since I got here. Well I love being a missionary. it really is great!! I love and miss you all!!!Love, Sister Marchant

October 3, 2011

Hello Family!! I love you all so much! So this week was kinda crazy so let me tell you all about it! On Monday after I emailed you we had the rest of our p-day, so we just went shopping a bit and then we met the Elders in our district by a river and just hung out there for awhile before we went to the church and played basketball/volleyball in the gym. We had fun. Towards the end Elder Heap our district leader (who is like 6'6'') said to stay in the district you have to touch the net...it wasn't really a problem for me, but Sister Hill is short, but she finally did it and basically broke her toe in the process...but all is good now. It was just kind of eventful. That evening we had a lesson with our investigator Michelle. She is so great!! She had some questions about a chapter in the Book of Mormon so we read it with her and answered her questions. I gave her the firm invitation to baptism, but she said maybe...satan is really working on her and we pray for her all the time, but she is still keeping her commitments and still wants to learn. On tuesday we had a district meeting for a few hours and then we went out to lunch. We went to Wendy's. ya they have lots of things here that they have in the states. They even have Diet Coke!! I was pretty excited! After that we met with Sara who is LA(less active) who we are going to start teaching the lessons to this week. She is so cute and has an adorable daughter. That evening we met with 2 families. The family we had dinner with was so great! They reminded me so much of our family and I loved it! Their son just got home from his mission a week ago and is so gung-ho about missionary work, and he had a few people he wanted us to try and teach so that is exciting. With the other family we just taught them a lesson and gave them the 7 day challenge. Wed was a very long day...so Sister Hill had a training meeting with lots of other people, so we had to go on exchanges, but the other sisters that had exchanges came with me to Canada...so I was with Sister Thorpe in her area...so I didn't know anything and her and her companion hadn't planned anything for us to do...so we basically winged it all day and it was not good. I totally learned the importance of planning that day. So needless to say it was a very very long day! After the training we had an appt with Lindsey...my first door contact....but when we got there her parents wouldn't let us teach her because they are Evangelical Free and they hate mormons!! So that was disappointing. That night we went to a ward council meeting and talked about the missionary work going on in the ward. So we have an 80 year old investigator Freda...I haven't met her yet, but on Thursday we tried to take a member of the ward, Sis Adams, with us to meet her. But Freda wasn't home when we got there, so that was disappointing. Also that day we got a call from a member in the ward that has a nonmember living with them and she said that he is interested in learning about the church, but he doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon yet. So we took some pamphlets to him and met him. Hopefully something will come of that. Later that night we went to the RS activity because the RS president told us she had invited some LA members and they said they would come. So we went. They are making dresses and sock monkeys so send to africa. So we helped out, but there was only 2 people there and they were both active. After we helped them finish we did stop by Heather's house (LA) and asked her if we could teach her the lessons. she is really nice just like all the other people here. On Friday we had the library and then a correlation meeting with one of the ward mission leaders and made some assignments for him to help us. That evening I extended my first 7 day challenge so that was great! They said they would and so we set up a time for next week. So Conference was AMAZING eh?!?!?! (I am working on using my eh)...They were supposed to show it at one of the chapels in Okotoks, but they didn't...so we had to drive to Calgary to our stake center and we missed Elder Scott's talk. But conference was soo good! I loved every second. It was a little different going to a church to watch it rather that watching it in your pj's and on the couch, but I loved it! On sat night the people that signed up to feed us forgot, so we went home and ate with Sis Landry. She is so great!! We taught her the first lesson and then helped her make banana bread. That is when she called you. She is so amazing! I am sure you loved that! Sunday was a lot like Saturday we had conference, but it was in Okotoks and then after conference we went and met with the Salter/Sim family. This family is so much like ours too!! the parents got married about a year ago and the wife is from England. but they have 6 teenagers and it is so much like our house!! their kids are so good at missionary work and are going to find us people to teach!! that night we had dinner with sis Landry and then for the message we shared with her we watched the movie "On the Lord's Errand" It is all about President Monson! It was so great!!! So that was my week! It was pretty crazy! I really love Okotoks! It reminds me so much of Utah! But things are great! It is starting to get colder...this morning it was -10 when we went out to walk/run. But things are good! Sounds like things are good at home! and you are having lots of fun! i miss you all! but I love you all even more!!Love Sister Marchant

O Canada

This is the car I get to drive.

My first companion Sister Hill

II'm heading to Canada!

Hi everyone!! Can you actually believe that I am in Canada?? I really can't to be absolutely honest. In fact I still don't feel like I am in Canada because the part I am in reminds me so much of Utah. My first area is Okotoks. We cover 2 wards which are the Crystalridge and DeWinton wards. It is fun. But let me tell you about my week from the beginning. On Tuesday, we woke up at 3 AM and got ready to leave for Salt Lake at 4. I think I slept maybe 30 min all night long. When we got to the airport and got through security we were able to call so that was so great to talk to you!! We didn't have to wait long at any of the airports we were in, but cool story...at the SLC airport while we were waiting for our flight we were talking to these 2 men. They were from back East somewhere and had just come to SLC to go to temple square and see the Mormon Tabernacle choir. They weren't LDS so we talked to them and gave them pass along cards. When we boarded our flight they were sitting right next to us so we were able to talk to them even more. It was really cool. We at least planted 2 seeds. When we got to Canada it took forever for us to get through immigration and everything, but President Archibald, his wife, and the AP's were waiting for us. They took us to the mission home and fed us and gave us a little bit of training. Later that night we had dinner and then had our welcoming fireside where we met our trainer and got to know where we are serving. My companion is Sister Hill. She is from Las Vegas and she is great!! She is going home after this transfer though, so I will get another trainer because now we have a 12 week training program that tells us what we need to do every week. We were so exhausted that night and I don't think I have ever slept better in my life. On Wed we went with our companions to our new areas. Like I said I am in Okotoks and it is a lot like Utah. We cover some of the city and also some acreges out in the boonies. It is really nice. We live with a member. Technically she is considered Less Active, but her name is Sister Landry and she is really nice. On Wed we also picked up some groceries and tried to visit some people in the ward, but didn't have any success. We had dinner with Sister Crowfoot that night. Her and her son are the models for the 2000 stipling warrior picture of the mother and son. She is really nice. Then on Thurs we had a few hours of planning and study before we went to visit some people and try a little bit of tracting. Mostly we try to work with members to get us referrals. In 80% of our lessons with members we are supposed to 7 day challenge them which means within 7 days they need to find someone for us to teach in their home. On Fri we went to the library to shelve books. We do that for service so that we can email for free. We do that every Wed and Fri. It really is kind of fun. We had lunch with a Recent Conver(RC) Haley and she is really cute and her kids are really cute too! We read a lot of the special Book of Mormon Ensign with her. That night we were a few min early for dinner so we decided to knock on some door. Sister Hill asked me if I would do one so I did. On my first door we met a girl Lindsey. She is 16 and we gave her a BOM to read and set an appt to see her on Sun, she later called and told us she couldn't get a hold of her mom so we rescheduled for Wed. I will totally let you know how that goes!! But it was so great to have success at my first door!! On Sat. we went to Calgary to help with the Calgary food drive. I have never seen so much food! They have been in Guiness World Records for collecting the most food in one day. Just at the place I was we had over 50 huge crates of food. It was cool to be apart of that. We did a little bit of talking to people and stuff that afternoon. That night we went back to Calgary for the RS Broadcast. Sister Landry took us with her! It was so great!! President Uchtdorf's talk was AMAZING! I loved every word. Yesterday was Sunday and it was great! We go to both of our wards so we are at church from 9-2. It was fast Sunday, so of course they asked me to bear my testimony in both wards. It was good though. We tried to knock on some doors that afternoon and visit some people, but we didn't have any luck. That evening we had dinner with the Grigor family. They are great! She sent you a picture of us! Their daughter is serving in Ogden. Right now she is in Washington Terrace. A lot of people here have children serving in Ogden and another just got home a few weeks ago. We taught a lesson to Sister Landry that night and it was good. Today is p-day!! We get to go shopping and stuff and then we will do something later with the Elders in our district. I will let you know more about that later! But overall it was a pretty good first week as a missionary!! To answer some of your questions, I will get to watch all of conference at some church somewhere, but I won't get a copy of that Ensign...so if you want to send me one when it comes out that would be very much appreciated!! I have used my America First card to pay for my luggage at the airport and then I will buy some coats and stuff today probably so watch for that. And also I still don't get tanners email, so will you please add me to the list!! that would be great! Why did you let the turtle go? It was pretty cool! I love and miss you all a ton!! Have a great week!!

First Sunday Dinner in Okotoks

Kaitlyn had dinner with the Grigors. This was her first dinner appointment and Sister Grigor e-mailed this to me.

Last E-mail from The MTC

Hello!
You probably weren't expecting this, but in case I don't get to call you tomorrow I wanted to tell you about this week. On Tuesday after I wrote to you we went to the temple and it was an amazing experience. There is nothing like going to the temple as a missionary. But then we had our Tuesday Devotional! Guess who the speaker was!!! Elder M. Russell Ballard! It was such an amazing fireside!!! He and his wife both spoke to us and basically their message was to not worry about yourself. When you get down and discouraged, just remember that the Savior has been through everything you have and more. He told us to always keep a picture of the Savior with us so we can look at it and always remember. So our sweet Branch President's wife got all of us a picture of Christ. It is a nice reminder to always have that with me! On Wed. we taught Brigitta again and she said she would pray and read the Book of Mormon and think about coming back to church. This week Sis Hutchinson and I learned the power of music in our lessons. In almost every one of our lessons this week we sang our investigators a hymn and it really brought the spirit. It was amazing! I don't have my schedule to look at with me so I am just trying to remember everything we did. But also this week we taught Hely again. She comitted to being baptized!!! She is such a sweet person and I really thought of her as a real investigator. This week we also taught our investigators Matt and Annika. Things are moving along with them as well. Annika set a date to be baptized and Matt is about ready to as well. We teach him for the last time tonight. But really that is how most of my days were this week. On Friday we had In-Field Orientation. It was basically classes/workshops from 8:30am - 9:30pm. But it realy was helpful. They were all taught by the missionaries that were in those District movies we watched before I left. So it was interesting. We learned a lot about things that will apply for when we get to the field. It was an extremely long day, but it was good. Sat was just a normal missionary day of teaching and class. Oh but we got new sisters with the new district in our zone this week! They are all cute and will be good missionaries. But Sunday was an AMAZING day!!! I have never been so spiritually fed! We started off with Music and the Spoken Word which always brings the spirit. Then that led into Relief Society. I don't remember who the speaker was, but she was great and she talked about being cheerful. Later that afternoon we had District Meeting which is always so good! My district is so amazing and I am going to miss them all so much! They will all be such great missionaries! But then we headed up to the temple for our Sunday Walk. We didn't go all the way to the temple because Elder Mortensen is on crutches. So it is a long way up a big hill for him. He has to go home for 6 weeks tomorrow when everyone goes out to the field. It will be hard but he knows it is for a reason. Then we had Sacrament. I didn't have to give my talk, but I was prepared. The topic was repentance. But my district did sing the musical number. We sang "I Believe In Christ". That song is so powerful and a great testimony of Christ. After that we had our Departing Devotional where the MTC presidency spoke to us and gave us som advice of how to be successful and what we can expect the first few days. And that led into the Sunday Fireside. The speaker was a District President from the MTC and his wife. Both of their talks were excellent! My miracle of the day was that EVERY talk that I heard yesterday was meant exactly for me! It was everything that I needed to hear. Instead of watching the movies last night we headed back to our rooms to begin packing because we are given very limited time to pack today. But that was the basic overview of my week. If I left out anything important I will let you know! But I leave for Canada tomorrow!! I can't even believe it! I am really scared/nervous/excited!!! We have to leave the MTC at 4 am so we will be awake around 3...not my idea of fun. But then my flight is at like 7:10 I think, so if I have time to call you I will! It will be early so sorry for that. I know that this is what I am supposed to be doing and I am grateful for the oppportunity I have to do it! I love you all and I am so grateful for all of the love and support you have given to me!! I know Christ lives and that He is there for us whenever we need him! This gospel is true!! I am so grateful I get to share the happiness I feel with others!! I Love you!!

Love,
Sister Marchant