June 4, 2012

Hey Family and Friends!! I sure hope you all enjoyed your first week of summer...it sure sounds like you did! I didn't have too much of an eventful week...it was just pretty normal...but it was a good one. So Tuesday was p-day...both Sister Garner and I thought one of us was going to be transferred so we were shocked when we both stayed together. We are setting a new trend because no 2 sisters have been companions for more than 2 transfers...but anyways since we thought one of us was going to be leaving we had made plans to visit and say goodbye to some of our favorite people. So we had a lesson with the Williams/Ross family and also Kenzie's family. They are great! Ok well all of the people in this area are great! That is one thing I love about being a missionary...meeting lots of new people and loving all of them! We also stopped by the church to tell Bishop Heaven that we weren't getting transferred...We told him he has some pretty powerful prayers because for weeks he has been telling us that we can't get transferred because he loves having us in the ward. He is great! Wednesday was just a normal day. Nobody really wanted to talk to us as usual...but don't you worry we are going to start finding prepared people soon!! We did have a couple lessons that day with Sister Santos and Sister Sonnenberg. They are both really great. Then that evening we had dinner with the Hernandez family. Yummy Mexican food...We were also reminicing because it had been exactly 12 weeks since we had first come to this area and we were remembering all the crazy things that happened to us the first few days we were here. Our other lessons we had that day canceled, but Shanita and Scott finally made it back from Texas so we went and said hello to them and they told us all about their wedding. Thursday was an exciting day!! Can you believe it has already been 9 MONTHS since I have been on my mission....It is crazy! It was also my 1 year temple anniversary and made me want to go to the temple a whole lot!! But we did what we were supposed to which was as you know weekly planning....this week it was a bit interesting because we didn't have a planner because they forgot to give them to the zone leaders at transfers so we didn't get them til Friday...just for the record I don't reccommend planning without a planner... Then we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai. They are so great and nice. And Cristina's other kids are so cute too! Especially they youngest Athieng. She is adorable and always want to sit by me. She is cute. Then we went to the Fremstads house for supper. They are great and their future sister in law, Lori, was there. She is great...she isn't baptized, but has read the Book of Mormon 2 times, the Pearl of Great Price, and is almost finished with Doctrine and Coventants. As soon as she gets married this summer she has plans to be baptized! She is great! She even comes to church every week! Friday was another normal day...we did some tracting and then had a lesson with a sinel sister in the ward, Sister Cole. She is originally from Australia and had lots of neat stories! Then it was back to the pavement...more tracting. That evening we had supper with the Trim's. We had a BBQ...and dad you will never guess, but Bro. Trim left me in charge of the BBQ and grilling the burgers...Dad you will be proud of me and all the handy things I am learning on my mission....ps one day when I get home...maybe for Christmas or something I want a power drill...I like using those things! Anyways we had a fun time with them. Then we had a lesson with Kenzie! Love that girl! We read the Book of Mormon with her. She will hopefully, maybe be getting baptized on Saturday! On Saturday we started our day over at Sister Sonnenbergs house in the garden...I weeded all her flower beds and replanted some flowers for her....so mom even on the mission I don't get a break from gardening and weeding! But I sure am going to miss all the fresh vegetables from the garden this year! After we got all the weeds out we had a little BBQ and roasted hot dogs in her fire pit...it was really great except for the fact that I then smelled like camp fire all day...Then we had a lesson withe the Guardados. They really just need to come to church. They have strong testimonies...but they just don't come to church! Then we went and read the Book of Mormon with Kenzie, and finally we went to have a correlation with Bro. Root, but we ended up helping Sister Root get ready for an open house she was having for Shanita and Scott. Sunday was of course church. It was just normal but it was a really nice fast Sunday. After church we had a correlation with Bro. Root and then we did some stop bys and contacted some referrals. That night we had supper with Sister Smith. It was a pretty normal day. Way to go Sager with all your baseball games! You are such a stud! I can't wait to go to your games next year! Everytime we pass a baseball field I always think about you and going to your games! B-rad you have a lot more determination to drive stick shift than I do...good luck with that! Glad that everything is going well! Good luck with your 40 Day fast thing!! Tell me about the missionary experiences you have!! And have a great time at your stake conference!! You are lucky to have Elder Scott come! Have a great week!! Oh and B-rad have a great 18th birthday on Sunday!! You can go buy some dry ice now...congrats! Love and miss you all!!! Picture of Sister Harris who didn't want her picture taken. And Hat picture

May 28, 2012

Hey Family and Friends!! Well guess what the Lord must have great plans for Sister Garner and I because we are both not getting transferred...we will be together in Chestermere for at least another 6 weeks!! So many things are going to be happening...I can just feel it! Are you all excited that school is out?? I bet! Lucky for you because the kids in Canada are still in school until the end of June...they only get 2 months of summer...so consider yourself lucky! Well guess what I actually had a pretty eventful week and I can't wait to tell you all about it! So Tuesday was DDM's...the last of the transfer and it was kind of a gongshow as always...Then we got to email because the libraries were closed on Monday. That afternoon we went to Sister Sonnenberg's to help her out a little bit and she wanted us to show her how to do some church things on the computer...so we were able to help her out! Then we were suppopsed to have a lesson with a PI Tiffany...but as they usually do she stood us up...then we headed out to Langdon to have supper with the Rhodes...they are an older couple and they are LA reactivation missionaries in the stake, but they told us that they are going to be putting in their mission papers to go on a mission which is neat!! Senior missionaries are the best!! Wednesday started out with a lot of tracting and equally as much rejection. But then we had a lesson with Sister Chase and we taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and emphasized coming to church and keeping the covenants we made at baptism. We then had supper with the Maunds and it was really yummy and then she sent us home with a whole bunch of food as well...the people in this ward really do take care of us! Then that night we were finally able to meet with the Oduneye's...they are a young LA couple and they are really busy...but guess what when we were leaving they asked us if we could meet with them every week until they are once again active in the church!! I love when people initiate meeting with you it is so great!! Thursday was a really big and busy day...as all days should... We had weekly planning and then a lesson with Cristina and Achai. We watched the movie Legacy with them...I love that movie...after that lesson we ran to the chuch to make a couple copies and guess what brilliant thing Sister Marchant did...well I left my keys on the counter of the library and realized as we were leaving the church...well Sister Garners keys were in the locked car...how were we supposed to get anywhere...Sister Garner went to the car just to see if it happended to be unlocked and one of the back doors opened...but then the car alarm went off... she was able to grab her keys and we were ok...but let me tell you that was quite the adventure! That evening we had supper with the Lonsdale family. They are great. And then had a lesson with and other LA/PM family, the Kingdon's. They are really nice! Then guess what we had the privledge of doing...teaching the Law of Chastity to Byron and Corrina...the ones that aren't married. We were dreading this lesson all week, but with much study and prayer the lesson went really well and hopefully they will be getting married really soon! Friday began with a long morning of tracting and stop-bys. Then that afternoon we had a lesson with Josephina. We felt like we needed to reteach her the Restoration and emphasize the Apostasy, the priesthood, and the Restoration. So we did and by the end of the lesson she was really understanding and was actually thinking and feeling the spirit...so hopefully we are making some progress with her. That evening we had supper with the Garlough family. Their daughter had one of her nonmember friends over and we taught them the Restoration. He seemed really interested and hopefully something will happen there. That night we had a lesson with our favorite people! Kenzie's family!! And do you want to know how great they are?? Well last weekend they went down to MT for a vacation and guess what they brought us...American OREOS!! The Canadian oreos are really not good and it was so nice of them! They seriously are so great!! On Saturday we did some tracting and then we went out to Langdon to help a family in the ward move/unpack at their new house. Then we were able to go to a baptism of the Elders because they wanted Sister Garner to be their pianist and so we did the 10 Min 1st as well. I love baptisms...we just need to have some of our own now! Then that evening we had an adult session of Stake Conference! Those are always so great! Sunday we had Stake Conference...it was a regional one and it was a broadcast from Salt Lake that went to all of Canada. It was really good. The speakers were Pres. Packer, Elder Christofferson, and someone from the Seventy, and one of the new counselors of the Relief Society. It was really good! But it was also really short...it was just over an hour long. Then we had supper with the Stewards and as always their house reminds me of home! That evening the bishop invited us to his house for a youth fireside. It was really good and they talked about things to do to help them be able to stand up for what they believe! Monday was actually a good non p-day Monday and we were busy with lots of appts. That is so wonderful that Grandma has decided to go on a mission! She will be a great missionary! It really is the best feeling in the world to be involved in the Lord's work! Congrats to B-Rad, Elizabeth, and Colton on graduating!! I can't believe they are all old enough to be graduated! And way to go Sager! You are such a stud!! Keep up the great work! Hit a couple homeruns for me!! Have a great first week of summer everyone! I love you all so much! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

May 21

Hey Family and Friends!! Well I had a really boring week...but really it was....and it was one of the longest weeks of my life...but I will tell you all about it anyways! So Monday was p-day and nothing very exciting happened...it was just a normal p-day. That night we just did some tracting and stop-bys and then we said good-bye to Shanita because she left for Texas to go get married...to an Elder that served here in our mission, in this area...So we said bye and wished her good luck! Tuesday we spent the morning totally deep cleaning our apartment because we had apartment inspections this week and our apartment was just liveable, but not all the way clean from when we moved in after the Elders. So it is really nice to have a really clean apartment! That afternoon we just did some more tracting and stop-bys before we went to have supper with the Leighton's. They just bought a condo in AZ so they were telling us all about their trip there and it made me a little bit jealous of the really nice weather! That night we were also able to have a lesson with the Wingrove family! They have a daughter that just turned 9 and wants to get baptized, but it is going to be tricky....1)because they don't come to church, 2) because the only night the mom is home is Tues, but the kids are always gone to different activities... so we will see how that goes... Wednesday we had apartment checks. Our apartment was sparkly clean! That afternoon we had a really long day of tracting and stop-bys...all of our regular appts canceled so it was a really long afternoon with nobody home! We were able to see Sister Santos and talk to her. She really appreciates all that we have done for her and so it is nice to see her and meet with her! We really want her to come to church! She said that maybe one day she will come to Sacrament! We would love that!! That night we had a really yummy steak dinner with the Seely family. They are great. And we ended our night with another great family...Kenzie's!! They are wonderful and always entertaining! Thursday was supposed to be a really good day...we had weekly planning and then had 4 lessons set up...guess what happened...yup they all canceled...which made for another day of tracting and stop-bys. At least we did have our dinner appt with the Butlers and their cute little girls! Friday you will never guess what we did....more tracting....yay....Rachel (Shanita's sister) invited us over for lunch and then we had a lesson with her. After that we were also able to have a lesson with the Guardado's....they really need to come back to church and say they want to, but I have decided that they just are not committed to it!! It makes me sad! Why do people turn away from the truth once they have found it?? It is just really sad! That night we decided to stop-by Josephina...she was actually home for a change! She let us in and we taught her the Doctrine of Christ and the things she needs to do to return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. We were talking to her and things were going well and then we invited her to be baptized...this is what she said...." I can't be baptized because if I get baptized then I would be a Mormon." I don't know what we are going to do with her...just keep trying I guess and provide an environment where she can feel the spirit... On Saturday Elder Wansgard (he is a senior missionary...and yes one of his ancestors started the Wansgard grocery store in Ogden) brought a couple of Elders and the came and took a bunch of furniture out of our apartment that we didn't need! It is nice to have it all gone! He also told us that we lost the housing inspection by 1/2 a point....oh well at least our apartment is clean now...Then we had a correlation meeting with Brother Root and diss lots of tracting...but nobody was home because of the long weekend. That night we had dinner with Betty. She is a RC of about 3 years and is really great...but she really likes to talk! We were at her house for about 4 hours because we couldn't leave...she just kept talking!! I think that Sister Garner and I both only said about 20 words the entire time we were there...but oh well. She is really nice! Sunday we had ward council bright and early which meant we had to wake up early and then we had a really nice day at church! Nobody was there...because half the ward was gone and we had no investigators there, but it would have been perfect because Sacrament Meeting was all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! So it was a nice day. That night we had supper with Brother Williams and Rachel. Of course he sent us home with tons of food. Then on Monday it was p-day again! It was just normal...but we did get an extra hour because the libraries were closed so we couldn't e-mail. We did play soccer which was fun...but every time I play sports I remember why I didn't play them...I am not very good at them. That evening we had supper with the Collette's and they are really nice. Then we just did some more tracting and stop-bys! So like I said, my week was really boring and not very much happened...We are still trying to find new investigators but haven't found any yet! I can't believe that Braydon and Colton are graduated!! It is crazy! Way to go Sager for being a stud! Keep hitting those home runs!! Well have a great week! I love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

May 14, 2012

Hey Family and Friends!! How are ya all?? I am great! And being a missionary is so great!! I didn't have a very eventful week but I will still tell you all about it! Well Monday was p-day...like usual, we just did the normal stuff but we did meet as a zone and went to lunch at Tony Roma's! It was fun and the lesson I have learned there is that Elders can seriously eat so much...sometimes it is disgusting how much food they eat! Anyways then we all went to the church to enjoy a nice relaxing few hours at the church. That evening we had a lesson with Kenzie! Love them!! We taught her about tithing and fasting and so now she is all taught and ready to be baptized, but we are just waiting for her dad to come home! Tuesday we had our DDM and then went out to lunch as a district. That afternoon wasn't very exciting either. We just did a bunch of tracting and stop-bys. We were blessed with a couple lessons that afternoon with some LA members. That evening we had supper with the Williams/Ross family. Bro. Williams made us some really good burgers...there is nothing like a burger fresh off the grill...that is one reason I love summertime so much!! I bet you will never guess what we did on Wednesday...well maybe you will....tracting and stop-bys! We did find someone that was really prepared...his name is Ramon....but he speaks Spanish so we passed him off to the Spanish Elders. But its okay because we all play for the same team! As long as he gets salvation it doesn't matter who teaches him! That afternoon we had a lesson with Sister Sonnenberg and helped her out a little bit. Then that evening we had supper with the Sullivans. They live in Chestermere and there is a lake in Chestermere...it is really pretty...their house backs right onto the lake so they have their own personal dock and everything! It is really pretty! How nice would it be to just be able to go boating whenever you want? It would be sweet! Anyways then that evening we had a lesson with Sister Chase and we read from the Book of Mormon with her! We are still working on getting her back to church! Thursday was weekly planning and it was the same as always...pretty uneventful. But we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai...they are great...and we just taught them about missionary work and a few of the commandments. They are still really solid! That evening we had dinner with the Hartley's. They just moved into the ward and they are really nice! After that we went to the RS activity. It was a Mother/Daughter activity and it was lots of fun! We did all the activities with Kenzie and Adison and their mom! We did a little exercise activity thing...everyone was shocked that I was even doing it in a dress...and then we learned about hair and makeup. We sure did have fun! On Friday we did lots of tracting! We really need to find new investigators!! You would think we would have lots of people to teach with all the tracting we do...not the case...yet! We will find more people to teach soon!! But as we were out tracting we had an interesting experience...we ran into some JW's...we were knocking on doors and they were totally waiting for us...all they wanted to do was bash with us and try to confound us...it was really frustrating. We ended up talking to them for about an hour and it was not fun. But they were totally contradicting themselves! Finally I was just sick of them so I bore my testimony to them and told them to have a nice day and we walked away...they did actually try to set up an appt with us...that was kind of funny. They are crazy though!! That night we taught Byron. He is still doing great and keeping his commitments...but he dropped his date because we told him they have to be married before he can get baptized and he said that wouldn't happen before June 2....that was kind of sad, but we are praying hard for them...because we know that he is so prepared to be baptized! Saturday was a really nice day too! We got to go the the Stake Relief Society Conference. It was fun and really uplifting. They just had a bunch of classes to go to and it was nice. We went to one about the blessings of the temple and the man that taught it was the man in charge of the Calgary temple!! It was exciting and he told us all about the progress of the temple! It is coming along! I can't wait for it to be completed!! It will be so exciting! That evening we had dinner with the Brown's, they have an adorable little boy. And then we just did some stop-bys! It was great! Sunday was Mother's Day!! One of the BEST days of my mission...because I got to talk to you! It was seriously so great to hear all of your voices!! You are all the best! We also had a nice day at church. Then that evening we had a few lessons out in Langdon. It was a great day! I love you all so much!! I hope all you Mother's had a great Mother's Day! For my mom I read the Book of Mormon. I highlighted all the references to Christ, His attributes, His words, and His doctrines all in a different color!! I finished it yesterday!! I know that the Book of Mormon in the word of God! It is true! I know that it is another testament of Jesus Christ! Read from its pages daily! If you don't have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, read it! I promise you will come to know that it is true!! I love being a missionary! It is seriously one of the best decisions I have made!! I hope you all have a great week! I love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant!1- me with the adorable missionary peeps you sent 2- me with my birthday presents 3- a Happy Mothers day picture for you!

May 7, 2012

April 30, 2012

Hey Family and Friends!! How are all of you this week?? I hope you are all wonderful!! I had a pretty good week and lots of exciting things happened! Aren't you excited to hear all about them? Well Monday was p-day! And guess what we did...RETAIL THERAPY!! Yep...we went shopping at the mall! It was nice and I bought a few new things which is nice because I am starting to get sick of some of my clothes...that is what happens when you only have so many things to wear...but other than that we didn't do anything else out of the ordinary...our dinner appt canceled for the night, but they gave us money to go out to eat so that was fun. And then that night we taught the Leavens family again because we are practicing teaching them! They are really great fake investigators because they ask lots of really good questions! Tuesday we had our DDM's and then we got our hairs cut!! I needed a cut so bad!! A LA lady in the ward cut our hairs...and it was a perfect opportunity to teach them since they are seriously never home...we are tempted to have her cut our hairs every week just so we could teach them and help them get back to church!! Then that afternoon we had another lesson with a LA family-the Guardado's- who a few weeks ago were gung ho about coming back to church, but this time they were definitely not! It is so sad because they have some really cute girls that could really benefit from going to church! That night we had supper with the Layton family and they have an adorable son who kept us entertained all evening. I think he might have showed us every single one of his toys. But it was really fun! We were then supposed to have a lesson with a family in the ward, but they weren't there...that is why we make back-up plans...and we then had the privlege of finding lots of people that were not interested in meeting with us or the message we have for them!! It was really sad! I can't imagine how Heavenly Father feels when we use our agency incorrectly. Wednesday morning and afternoon were spent tracting...until we visited Cody...he was a potential investigator we tracted into a few weeks ago. We stopped by his house and then he invited us in and gathered all of his family to listen. We taught him and a few of his sisters Lene, Thunder, and Sunny....they are native and from a reserve by Cardston....but they are wonderful!! They are so prepared! Especially Lene...she said she has always wanted to be baptized and accepted to prepare to be baptized on May 19! Anyways it was so great because we got 3 new investigators!! The amazing part of this was that the night before when we were planning we set a goal to find a new investigator...we were praying all day that Heavenly Father would help us reach our goals and find a new investigator!!! He truly does answer our prayers!! He loves us so much!! Then we had a lesson with Sister Chase and we read from the Book of Mormon...We are trying to find out what is keeping her from coming to church...it is basically a guessing game. That evening we had supper with the Haynes family and they are great! And then we had a lesson with Shanita...she is in the ward and is marrying a missionary that served here in about 2 weeks...she doesn't have a ton of support, so we try and help her out and she likes to come to lessons with us which is nice! Thursday was weekly planning and it went well...besides the fact that I felt not good...luckily there are Elders that are just a phone call away and they can give me a blessing! I am so grateful for the priesthood!! After I got a blessing, I felt a lot better when we had to go to some lessons...one with Cristina and Achai and then one with the Butler family! They are cute and it was really fun to talk with them because they were able to go through the temple last weekend!! Then that evening we taught a Part member ish family...they aren't really married but the 'husband' wants to be baptized....they come to church every week and he was under the impression that you have to go to church for a year to be baptized...don't worry...we set him straight...so he told us he wants to be baptized and we are going to start teaching him this week!! They will have to get married before he can get baptized, but that is just a minor detail... On Friday we spent the morning cleaning our car because we had car inspections and Specialized Training. It was a really good training on teaching the 10 minute lessons...we talked about all of the effective elements and things that you need to include and then we did some role plays...guess who got to do the 10 min 1st...you guessed it me and Sister Garner!!! Not gonna lie...we did a pretty good job, but there is always room for improvement! Then that night we had dinner with a PM family the Royers. We had a good evening with them before we went to see some of our favorite people!! The Salsbury's!! I love Kenzie, Adison, and their mom! They are seriously so great!! Saturday was full of tracting, but we actually had a lot of appts as well. We met with the Browns who we are practicing teaching and then we had a lesson set up with Cody, Lene, and Thunder....we went around 3 and Lene had just woken up and told us to come back in an hour...so we did and we were able to teach them...it went well! And then we ended our night with dinner with the Root's and a correlation meeting with Bro. Root. He is doing a great job at being a WML...trying to get people more excited about missionary work!! Sunday was church which was great, but we had no investigators there which was a bummer...but we taught the gospel principles class. Then we had lunch with Shanita a had a lesson with her. That night we had dinner with the Steward family which was great because it reminded me so much of our family! And then we were able to have another lesson with Kenzie and her family!! I seriously love them!! Well that was my week! It was pretty action packed! Hopefully this one will be just as good if not better!!! I hope you all have a great week!! I love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant