July 23, 2012

Hey Family and Friends!! Oh my goodness! Time is flying with Sister Stockwell. I can't believe another week is already gone. Well we didn't have an extremely eventful week, but it was still good! So get ready for all the fun details... So Monday was just a normal p-day. It was just like all the others...hanging out at the church with all the really 'special' Elders. They sure are interesting and have lots of growing up to do. Then that evening we had supper with Sister Leavens and her boys. It was fun as always. For dessert we got to try on all her amazing heels!! It actually made me feel like a girl again. I can't wait to be able to wear heels again! She has some pretty great ones! I especially loved the 6 in ones. They made me feel extra tall! Anyways it was lots of fun. Then we did a bit of missionary work. Then on Tuesday we had a Zone Training meeting. It was a training from our Zone Leaders and they told us the things that they learn in their meeting with the Mission President. It was kind of a gongshow...as it always is when you are with the Elders...But they told us all about some of the new rules that President Nicholas has made...and I love all of them...first we can now listen to music whenever it doesn't interfere with study, proselyting, and planning, and we can also listen to anything that brings the Spirit!! It is wonderful. He also told us we could take 20 min naps on our lunch breaks, and that the 7DC is no longer!!! I was a bit excited. So it is fun. Then that afternoon we just did some tracting and stop-bys before we had supper with the Fremstad's. They are great as always. One benefit of staying in an area for 6 months is that you really know the people and come to love them all! And that is what has happened to me! The ZL's also gave us mail which is always exciting. So I got all your lovely notes from the family reunion and I also found out that Sister Hutchinson (my MTC comp) went home. I don't know why, but it made me sad for her. Wednesday we jsut did a bunch of tracting which was less than excitng, but Sister Stockwell makes everything more enjoyable so we still had fun. Here is a semi funny story. We were visiting a LA, and there was a bunch of bees so we were leaving and then one landed right on Sister Stockwell's nose...we think that is thought her nose was the hive, and it stung her. It was the first time in her entire life that she had been stung by a bee. Crazy eh? But she is ok. I swear all the bugs love her! She has at least 2 new bug bites everyday. Anyways we did have a few lessons that day which was good. We met with Sister Brown and were teaching her the Doctrine of Christ, and when we were done she told us of a friend she wants to invite to learn about the gospel...so that is exciting. We also met with Sister Chase and taught her about Enos and being completely converted to the gospel. That evening we went to a baptism to do the 10 min 1st. For Thursday, I have to give Jenessa a birthday shoutout!! I hope you had a great day!! That morning we went to Sister Chase's house to do some service and clean out her shed. When she told us, we thought it was going to be years worth of clutter to clean up, but really all we did was sort nails and screws, and organize some painting things. But she appreciated the help so it was all worth it. That afternoon we had a lesson with Cristing and Achai about the importance of the Book of Mormon and having a testimony of it. Here is another neat story. We were getting in our car by her house, when a little girl on her bike came up to us and asked, " Are you the girls that go door to door and teach kids about God?" So we talked to her a little bit and found out where she lived so we can go back and teach them. We were in a hurry because we had to get to Interviews and Training. It was a really good training. It was all about finding which we are trying to do because we have basically no investigators...so we really need to find some. And then I also got to meet with President Nicholas. He is called of God and I love him and his wife. That evening we had supper with Don and Ryandel (Kenzie's parents) and we celebrated Don getting a new job so that he will be home more often!! It is so great! Friday we had to do our weekly planning and took a bunch of time, but we were able to do some missionary work and meet with a few members. But it wasn't a very excitng day... Saturday we were just doing a bunch of tracting and stop-bys which turned into a few lessons. We were happy about that. We met with some members and also a few LA's. Then that evening we had supper with the Williams. They are still doing well. I swear Rachel is going to pop any day. I am excited to see her tiny baby, even though I can't hold it. Sunday was just normal...we didn't have any investigators at church or any of the LA's that told us they would be there. We did have a few lessons that afternoon with Sister Sonnenberg and then supper with the Hartley's. Other than that we just did some stop-bys. Sounds like you all had an eventful week...Mom I am so jealous you got to see WICKED!!! I hope you loved it! And I think it is hilarious that now Dad and Sage are both Harry Potter wannabes with their scars...that is pretty funny! But Sage is pretty brave! I would have been freaking out with all that blood! I love being a missionary and bringing salvation to our Heavenly Father's children!! It is such a wonderful blessing! I hope you all have a great week!! I love and miss you all so much!! Have a great week!!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

July 16, 2012

Hey family and friends!! I hope you all had a fantastic week! Even though not much happened this week, it was still so great...mostly because it was like a breath of fresh air!! Tuesday last week was our p-day and it was just as exciting as all the rest....well accept that Sister Garner got transferred so she had to get all packed up and ready to go. When we got to the church it was just as boring as ever and the Elders were playing Risk...I hated that game when Braydon tried to get me to play with him, and nothing has changed since...I still hated it. I don't know how I got roped into playing...eventually I just killed myself off so that was exciting. Then that evening we went to say goodbye to some of the people we love most. Of course Kenzie was on that list. When we got there, they were playing Bocce ball, so we joined in on the fun. I haven't played that game since the MTC, so that brought back some memories. Wednesday was transfer day!! Hooray! I was ready for a change...I think I got the best companion ever! Transfers was great because we got to see a lot of the sisters and talk to them for a little bit. But then we went back to work. So Sister Stockwell is my new companion and she is seriously great! It was like we were already best friends. This was exactly the change that I needed. So she is from Las Vegas, NV and has 3 brothers and a sister. She is the 'oldest' (been in the mission field the longest) sister in the mission, and the next oldest sisters are my transfer of sisters. When we got home, she got all settled in and then we went shopping. After that we did a little bit of work and went to see our usual LA's that we visit on Wed's, but none of them were home. Oh well...That evening we had supper with the Scott family. They are a family that has recently moved into the ward and they were fun. Then I had to introduce Sister Stockwell to some of the important people...AKA Kenzie and her family. So we had a nice little visit with them. Thursday I was thinking of Sager all day! I hope you had a GREAT birthday buddy!! Next year we will celebrate extra hard! We didn't have a super exciting day. We had weekly planning and we got a lot done. It is nice to have a fresh face in the area so we basically started from square 1. Then we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai. They are great. We taught them from 1 Nephi 17 when Nephi builds the boat and about following the commandments. They absorb everything we teach them and they are just great! When we were on our way to the next place we saw Kaleigh (the lady we taught last week) out smoking. So we went to talk to her and see if she had read the Book of Mormon and such. Unfortunetly she hadn't and she told us that she had talked to her husband and that he had basically talked her out of learning more. That was really sad, because she really needs the gospel! That evening we had supper with the Layton family and they are great and so fun. Then I took Sister Stockwell to meet Bishop Heaven and that was great as well. We talked a lot about some of the ward members that we have been working with and he asked us about a few more that he would like us to try and see. Friday we spent a lot of time finishing our weekly planning and making some plans and goals of thing we want to accomplish this transfer. Then we headed to the church to get our planners all ready for the transfer and make a bunch of copies of thing. We also stopped by to wish Kenzie a happy birthday. I swear this week was the week of Birthday's! but that is okay because birthday's are good! Then that evening we had supper with Bro. Williams and Rachel. Like I said they take care of us when we don't have a dinner appt. Saturday was a day of service! But it was a whole bunch of fun and I laughed so much! We were out at the Trim's house and we did a whole bunch of yard work. Mostly weeding a bunch of flower beds. But we were out there for most of the day so they fed us lunch and dinner. Whenever we were taking a short break they taught us how to play a fun little game. But the best part was just laughing with Sister Stockwell and Brother and Sister Trim. They are funny people and they can make you laugh super easy! Sunday was a good day. We had church...we didn't have any investigators there because we basically have zero because they have all fallen off the face of the earth. That evening we had supper with the Low's and they were open to having missionary experiences and inviting people to the temple open house which will be good! Then we just did some stop bys and we met a man that was drunk out of his mind. So drunk that he invited us in to have a beer with him and his friends. But that was basically all. I have to say that God really does answer prayers!! I know this because He sent me Sister Stockwell! I love her and she is going to be a lifelong friend! I love being a missionary! It is so great! I am glad you are having a good summer! It sounds like you are having fun! I love and miss you all a whole bunch!! Have a great week!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant Here are a few pictures... 1- Me, Kenzie, and Sister Garner celebrating their birthdays 2- Me and my new comp Sister Stockwell

Pictures... 1- Here is a good joke for you...How did the Chicken cross the road? ....Look at the picture..... Answer: In high heels! Love Addy! 2- Kenzie's Baptism!

Hey Family and Friends!! I hope you all had a fabulous week!! I can't lie this week was pretty great here in good old Canada!! I can't wait to tell you all about it! But first things first transfers...I am staying in Chestermere...that will be 6 months...and my new companion is Sister Stockwell. She has been out 2 transfers longer than I have so that will be fun!! Oh and Happy Birthday Dad! And Happy Birthday Sage!! I hope you both have a great birthday! So Tuesday...well this week began 1/2 km month...so we normally get 1700, in July we only get 850...we struggle with 1700 so you can imagine what July is going to bring. So knowing that it was 1/2 km month we decided we were going to be doing lots of walking. We decided to try it out by walking to Abbeydale (the neighborhood closest to where we live) just to see how long it takes us. It was super duper windy and Abbeydale is only 3km away...guess how long it took us to walk there...40 min...it was insane. So we stayed in Abbeydale basically the entire day and then walked back in time to go visit Kenzie and her family. Her parents had gotten home from Utah and we knew they were bringing gifts! So thanks for the stuff you sent me! You are the best family I could ask for! They also brought us some American Oreo's and Ritz crackers. They really are the best! That day we also found out that Kenzie's dad wouldn't be at her baptism...so she had the option to go through with it and her dad wouldn't be there, or reschedule and we probably wouldn't be there. She chose to keep it for Saturday. That girl has so much faith! But more on that later. Wednesday was the 4th of July! I hope you all had fun! I did wear my red, white, and blue to be patriotic! It wasn't a very eventful day for us though. We spent the morning tracting and everyone either didn't speak English or they weren't interested. So we were a little discouraged as we were walking home for lunch and then we were almost home and a lady let her dog out....of course the dog ran straight to us and was barking at us so she came down to get it. We started talking to her and had found out she had just had a baby so we started talking about the plan of salvation and asked if there was a time we could come teach her. She said "Well I have time now, can to come teach me now?" We were excited that someone was actually interested. So we went in and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. Her name is Kaleigh and she is very prepared. She wants to keep learning, but she and her husband were going out of town because Calgary has turned into hickville for the Stampede...there are wannabe cowboys everywhere you look! Anyways so we were happy to teach her and then we continued on with our day. We helped Sister Sonnenberg out a little bit and then had a lesson with Sister Chase as well. That evening we had supper with the Heaven's and they had an 'American' dinner. It was fun and then we played "Stay on the Path" with their family. Nobody in Canada has heard of the game 'Don't eat Pete' so they are having fun playing our game! Then last but not least we had a final lesson with Kenzie before her baptism. That family is the best! Thursday not much happened but it was an exciting day! We were finally able to meet our new mission president and his wife! They are so great! They are really sweet and I know that they are called of God! When we were all meeting them, he asked us "What is one thing your mom would want us to know about you?" I didn't really know what to say...mom what would you want them to know about me? I said something like I am really helpful because I love to clean and do laundry. Then that afternoon we had a lesson with Cristina and her family! And then supper with with Williams. They take care of us and feed us when we don't have a dinner. On Friday we did a little bit of our planning and then Sister Leighton asked us to come help her finish up packing for their move. So we were able to do some service there. That evening the Sullivan's invited us over to their house for supper. Then we went to the curch with Kenzie so she could have her baptismal interview! She passed with flying colors and was ready to be baptized! Saturday was one of the best days ever!! It was the day of baptism's! We went to the church that morning to start filling the font and get everything ready for baptisms that day! First the some of the Elders had a baptism and they asked us to do the 10 min 1st. Then after their baptism was over we finished preparing for Kenzie's baptism! It was one of the best baptism's I have ever been to! The spirit was so strong and it was just wonderful! It was a perfect baptism. I sang at the baptism and everything was great until everyone started crying...but I made it through! It was such a special day! I love that family so much! Then after Kenzie's baptism, the other Elders had a baptism and also asked us to do the 10 min 1st...After that we headed over to Kenzie's for a BBQ and good company. Then we went to the Trim's. They wanted us to come over so they could give us some roses. They were to thank us for helping them weed their garden and they said that if we bring the vase back every week they will give fresh flowers! They are great! Sunday we had ward council and then church which was good as always. Then we had a quick correlation with Bro. Root. Kenzie's family invited us over for lunch as well so that was fun. And then we had a lesson with the Guardado's. It wasn't a super exciting day... Monday was Sister Garner's birthday! It was really hot...well like 30 C...but basically nobody has AC here! So it can get miserable...now I kinda know how Tanner feels...But it was still a good day. We did some tracting in the morning and then we went to the Trim's to make birthday cupcakes...because it isn't a birthday without cake! We also helped her get ready for the BBQ we had with them that night. They invited Kenzie's family and also some couples that are here from Alaska for the Stampede over. It was a lot of fun! Well I hope you all have a great week!! Keep enjoying your summer! I love and miss you all! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

July 2, 2012

Hey family and friends!! How was your week? I hope it was good!! Have a great 4th of July tomorrow...I will be celebrating in spirit! Well we had a pretty good week so I can't wait to tell you all about it!! Monday was just a normal p-day...we did all of the normal stuff. But we also decided to bake treats for the Elders for our last DDM of the transfer cause we are just nice like that. Being at the church with the Elders was quite boring as well because they don't do anything. But then we had supper with the Leavens family! That sure was fun and exciting. Then we got to have FHE with Shanita, Scott, Kenzie, and Addison! It was a blast!! We provided the lesson and then we had smores for a treat and then went to the park and played a little bit for our activity. It was lots of fun!! Tuesday we had our usual DDM...but it was the last one of the transfer. Right when we were done and walked outside, it started pouring rain and didn't stop all day!! This has been the rainiest spring they have had in over 5 years...well you can imagine how fun tracting and doing stop-bys in the pouring rain was....NOT...but don't worry we perservered...we did find some potential investigators which was exciting. We also were able to have visit with Sister Rees and then had supper with the Simmons family. They are wonderful! Wednesday we started off at Sister Sonnenberg's house to do some service for her and help her get ready for her brother's arrival in a few days. Then guess what we did...tracting...but at least it was sunny! Trust me it makes it a lot more enjoyable....well as enjoyable as tracting can be. We were able to have a visit with Sister Royer and she is great! Her daughter got baptized this week which was exciting. Next we had a lesson with Sister Chase....you will never guess, but she went out of town again this weekend! One day she will be here to come to church! That evening we had supper with the Doll family and they have a cute little family. That evening we just did some more stop-bys and stuff. Thursday was weekly planning. Then that afternoon we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai. About a week ago, Achai asked us if she could bear her testimony in church. Of course we said she could, but she was a little bit nervous. So we decided to have a lesson about testimonies and to practice bearing our testimonies. They all have sweet testimonies and they are such an amazing family! Then that afternoon we helped a LA/PM family move into our ward. They were really nice and appreciated the help. They moved into Langdon which is very inconvenient for us because it is now July which means half km month...we already didn't have adequate km's to go to Langdon very often so I don't know how we will ever get there this month...oh well we will figure it out. That evening Sister Rees invited us over for supper. She is great. Her daughter attends our ward because it is at 9 and her daughter naps at 12:30...but she also just had a baby and her husband recently left her. It is so sad and she could really use some help. So we called to get permission to leave our area to help her out. But our area is falling apart...all of our investigators are falling off the face of the earth! We still haven't talked to Byron or Josephina...we really are trying to find new investigators, but haven't found any of the elect yet. On Friday we were able to go and help Breena...Sis Rees's daughter...so we just did a bunch of stuff to help her out. Then the Elders gave us our mail...and I got some letters from some of my favorite people!! Thanks! They really mean a lot! Keep them coming! Getting mail really brightens your day when you are a missionary! Then we had to make some copies at the church. We then stopped by to see Kenzie for Daily contact and she seemed a little down. So we tried to cheer her up by playing "Stay on the Path", her and Addy loved it! Then we had supper with Bro Williams and Rachel that evening. Friday was also the day that President and Sister Archibald left and President and Sister Nicholas arrived in Canada! I sure will miss the Archibalds, but I am looking forward to also getting to know President and Sister Nicholas! On Saturday we did a bunch of tracting and the people weren't very nice that day...ususally they are. Then that afternoon we were able to go to Katelyn Royer's baptism. It was a really special day for her and the spirit is always so strong at baptism's! Then that evening the Simmons invited us over for supper because we didn't have a dinner appt. so that was nice. And last but not least we had a lesson with Kenzie where we went over the BI questions and played 'Stay on the Path' again because they love it! Happy Canada Day on Sunday!! It was a great day! I sure do love Canada! We had a great day at church and it was a great testimony meeting. Achai bore her testimony and she did such a good job and she was so confident! I was so proud of her. Also it made my day when Sister Leavens bore her testimony on the Sister Missionaries! It made me feel like the people here really do love us and appreciate the work we are doing! After church we had a lesson with Kenzie and then went and studied and did some tracting and then they invited us over for dinner with them as well. So it was a good day. Monday was p-day again! And guess what we actually did something different!! It was so fun too! We played baseball with our zone!! I haven't played baseball in ages...and I actually did pretty good...well when I was batting...playing in the field was a different story. But it was so much fun! Besides the getting eaten alive by mosquitos part...but it was worth it. Then we went to a BBQ for Canada Day at the Badick's. They are such a nice family as well! Well I hope you all have a great week!! We have transfers next week...so there might be a change coming...I hope you all had lots of fun in St. George! Have fun! I love and miss you all like crazy!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn MarchantHere are a few pictures! They are of us playing baseball...proof that I actually played Also me cutting the grass in a skirt...that is how we do things as sister missionaries And also having fun at the park And celebrating Canada Day in style!

June 25, 2012

Hey Everybody!! My week was less than exciting...but really it was. Everyone here is getting ready for summer and vacations that they don't have 'time' for the message we have....but it was still a good week and I will tell you all about it! Monday was p-day and not gonna lie, it was pretty lame....I don't know if I told you, but all the Elders go in different rooms and play the piano, and we can't be in those rooms with them so we are basically just left to be with ourselves. So this week Sister Garner and I decided to play Monopoly...we borrowed it from Kenzie...it was Canada Monoploly though so that was kinda fun. That night we had supper with the Williams family...which went as it normally does. Tuesday was DDM's...just imagine how that went....and after that we went and spent the afternoon helping out Brother and Sister Leighton. They are moving and needed some help packing up their house because things happened so fast so we were able to help them and then that evening we had supper with them. After we did all we could to help them, we had a lesson with the Leavens family as well. We finally were able to get a few of the kids to listen to the lesson which was extra good. Wednesday...ALL of our appts for the day canceled...except Sister Chase. She is really sweet, but she needs to stop going out of town on the weekends so that she can come to church! Maybe this week!! But anyways since all of our lessons canceled you can guess what we did....yep...tracting.....my favorite.....With all the tracting we do, you would think we have lots of people to teach....not the case. Maybe one day...I know there are lots of people that are prepared, but where are they all? Luckily that evening we had a lesson with Kenzie. We planned her baptism so that it could be done before her parents leave for Utah. It went well and she is getting excited I think! Thursday we had weekly planning and it was just as exciting as always....that afternoon we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai. That family is great! We wanted to do something that would get them more engaged in the lesson so we made a little game....when I was little I loved the game 'Don't eat Pete'...so i figured they would have to like it too...so we made our own version....I drew little pictures of different commandments for our game board and we called it 'Stay on the Path'. They had so much fun playing it....and of course eating the treats! That night we had supper with the Fremstads and they are great as always. We were supposed to have a lesson with Byron again....we even had our ward missionaries (Shanita and Scott) with us....and guess what they weren't home!! That night we also called Josephina, but found out that her father passed away so she had gone to the Philippines and won't be back until July 18...I am pretty convinced that things are not working out because I have been praying for Christlike attributes and Heavenly Father is really testing me....but hopefully the blessings are on their way soon!! Friday we did more tracting. And then we went to the Trim's to do some service. I bet you will never guess what we did....weeded their flower beds....it was nice, but I got eaten alive by mosquitos...so that wasn't super fun. That evening was wonderful though! We had dinner with the Garlough's!! She is so wonderful and she asked us what we wanted for dinner....well she ended up calling my mom for one of my favorite recipes and made it for me! So we had sweet and sour meatballs! It was so yummy and I savored every bite! Oh and mom...she gave me a hug from you too!! You are the best!! Saturday was a very rainy day and it was full of tracting for us. I am glad it was nice there for the wedding and that everything turned out! It wasn't a very exciting day for us. We had supper with the Gall's and it was a little bit awkward...it was a big huge birthday party for their son, so all of their family was there and most of them were speaking Tagolog...because they are all from the Philippines....so needless to say it was a little wierd. After that we stopped by to make daily contact with Kenzie and read from the Book of Mormon with her. Shanita and Scott are babysitting them while their parents are in Utah....so they will have fun. Sunday we just had church and it was good as usual. At church Amanda invited us over to her house for lunch. Amanda is not a member...but she should be. She is 17 and her parents won't let her be baptized...but the second she turns 18 you can count on her getting baptized. She is great and I told her that I have 3 brothers that she could choose from...she is great! So she convinced her mom to let us come over. Her mom is really nice and I am really surprised she won't let her get baptized...maybe her heart will soften! That night we had supper with Bro. Williams and Rachel. They take really good care of us and feed us whenever we don't have a dinner! They are great!! Well that was my week!! It was kind of boring. But I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant

June 18, 2012

Hey all you Family and Friends! Well I hope you all had a fabulous week! I had a pretty good one! It was kind of busy and some exciting things happened! I can't wait to tell you all about them! So first we have Monday...it was p-day, but it didn't really feel like p-day...because we had to clean our car for car inspections...and we wanted to get 100% so we worked really hard! We even took the time to handwax our car...so I can't lie...it looked really good! But it was still a good day. That evening we had supper with the Root's and they are great! Then we had a lesson with Kenzie! Love that girl...and her family. She is still on for baptism on July 7 which we are excited for! But we gave her a Book of Mormon Stories book with the pictures to help her understand the Book of Mormon more! She loved it! Tuesday was a bitter sweet day...we had Specialized Training and Car Inspections....we only missed one point on our car by the way...and it was a really great training. Of course we had the role play portion...Sis Garner was convinced that the other Sister's would have to do it...but nope...we did! We only did a Lesson 2...and our last training was on the importance of memorizing the doctrine points at the end of the lessons so it will help us become better teachers. Well Sister Garner and I have been working hard on memorizing them and practicing teaching and we did a good job. Right after our roleplay President Archibald got up and said that it was the first time that he had ever heard all of the doctrine points said in a roleplay! We were really proud of ourselves...all of our studying is paying off...and is definitely making us better teachers. But unfortunetly it was our last training with President and Sister Archibald because they leave Canada on June 29...so they brought cake for everyone and we took pictues and did some mingling. They are so wonderful and I will miss them. But I am sure President and Sister Nicholas will be just as wonderful as well! The rest of the day we just did some tracting and stop-bys and had supper with the Quaifes. We did have a PI lesson set up, but as usual he wasn't there...one day we will find the prepared people that will let us teach them. Wednesday we had DDM's and it was a gongshow as usual. When they were over, we headed back to our apartment to study and guess what they were doing....testing all the fire alarms in the building. Not the greatest study environment. After that we had lots of "fun" tracting in the pouring rain! They say it might help people have compassion on you...not the case for us that particular day. We did have a lesson with Sister Chase where we read from the Book of Mormon. I promise one day we are gonna get her to church. And all the LA's we are working with. That evening we had supper with the Fremstad's and it was a great evening as usual! Thursday was one of the best days of my mission! Why you might ask...well we had a Special Training for all the Sister Missionaries!!! It was the best to see all the sister's in one place and be able to spend a few hours with them! It was such a great training! It was all about our role in the open house of the Calgary Temple! It is seriously going to be some of the best 3 weeks of my life! I can't even wait! All of the 20 sister missionaries in our mission will be at the temple everyday! 5 companionships will be working on each of the 2 shifts! It is going to be incredible! Bro. Stonehocker...who is incharge of the tours of the open house...came and talked to us as well as President and SIster Archibald! After the training they fed us lunch and then sent us all away again...Here was the best quote from President "There is one thing the Elders are better at...and that is leaving!" It is true...we all get talking and we never want to leave! But it was so great to see all the sisters! I think that is one of the reasons I needed to come on a mission was to meet all the amazing people I have met that I never would have if I hadn't come! I love how the Lord really does have His hand in our lives and puts us where we need to be when we need to be there! After our training we had a lesson with Cristina and Achai! They are just as solid as ever and have such a strong testimony!! After that we had supper with the Piersons and then were able to drop in at the RS activity. It was a mother/son activity this month...so a little more rough than the last one, but is was still fun! Friday we had to do our weekly planning and it was a gongshow. But the rest of the day wasn't very exciting either. We had supper with the Hernandez family and then we were going to go do some visits that we had planned, but we felt like we needed to go see Sister Leavens because we hadn't seen her at church for a few weeks and we just felt like she needed a visit. Sure enough she did! It is wonderful to listen to the Spirit to know where your Heavenly Father wants you! I love it! So we were able to spend a little bit of time with her and just have a good visit! On Saturday we just did some tracting and stuff before we had a lesson with Sister Sonnenberg. She is just the same as always. But then we were able to go to the Williams house and help them paint their basement! It was actually a lot of fun. We got a lot of it done, but then it was time for us to go to our dinner appt. We ate supper with Betty. She is great....and she is such a talker. But she really is a nice lady. After our appt with her we went back to help finish up the painting. It was fun and it looked really good by the time we were done! Sunday was Fathers Day!! So happy Father's day to all you fathers! We had a good day at church and then Bro Williams invited us over for lunch for all the help we gave him. After that we had a few PI lessons set up and we took our new ward missionaries...Shanita and Scott...but none of them were home or let us come in and teach them....it was kind of a bummer. But we did have a lesson with the Guardados...they too are some that we are going to get to church one day! And then after that we had supper with Kenzie's family! Love them so much! They are coming to Utah this weekend and I can't lie...I am kind of jealous...but oh well Canada is great too and I love it here! I am glad you had a good time at youth conference! And way to go Sager for being a stud! Thanks for hitting a homerun for me! Good luck with all the final wedding

preparations!! Have a great week!! I sure do love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant Here are a few pictures! 1- Me and my daughter Sister Brower 2- Me and the Sisters from my MTC family...Sister Newby and Sister Hoyt 3- Painting!!

June 11, 2012

Hey Family and Friends! Oh my goodness we had a pretty interesting week! Hope you all had a good one! Well Monday was of course p-day and it wasn't very eventful...but our zone this transfer doesn't like to do anything...so we were just at the church and each companionship of Elders was in a different room playing the piano...and the rule is there has to be more Elders than Sisters in a room...so we could't hang out with any of them...it was pretty lame. We were just off by ourselves so it was kind of boring. But eventually Elder Colton (ZL) roped some people into doing Insanity with him...Sister Garner and I included...and it was killer. It is a crazy workout that seriously INSANE people do. But whatever at least we did something. That night we had supper with the Isbister family and they are really nice and have cute kids. Funny story about this day though...so we were filling our car up with gas and we went in to pay and it was a different cashier than it usually was and I was paying and he looked at Sister Garner and then at me and asked "Is that your daughter?" I couldn't do anything but laugh...it was seriously hilarious! Tuesday was our gongshow DDM's. It was interesting because we have a really big district because both sets of Elders are on 3-legs because they are both training Visa waiters...That afternoon we just did some tracting and set up a couple of appts for later in the week. We had supper with the Heaven's and they are really cute. They have a daughter that is in grade 1 and she made us a cute little balloon animal for us. And her mom told us that last time we went over for supper she said the new missionary came over for dinner and she brought her sister. I thought it was really cute! We also had crazy weather here in Canada this week and on Tues 3 tornadoes touched down in Taber...I have absolutely no idea where that is in relation to me...all I know is that we had a bunch of storms all week. On Wednesday it was pouring rain while we were out tracting....not the funnest. But we did have some lessons with Sister Sonnenberg and then Sister Chase. Then Sister Wingrove cut our hairs!! I just got mine trimmed and a few more layers...but Sister Garner got a complete change...she doesn't like it yet, but she hasn't really tried to do it. I think it is cute. And we ended our night with a few more appts. One was supper with the Acido's...yummy philippino food...and then a lesson with the Oduneye's who promised us they would come to church this Sunday! Thursday was weekly planning and it went well. I just wish we had some investigators that would actually progress! We also had a really busy day that day...we first taught Cristina and Achai. I love them! They are just so solid and ask really sincere questions! That evening we had dinner with the Lonsdale family and that was great as always! After that we headed to a lesson with Sister Parker. She is a LA sister that moved into the ward a few weeks ago and we have been trying to meet with her forever because none of her kids are baptized and she wants them to get baptized! So we were excited and hopeful to pick up some new investigators but her kids weren't there so we just taught her. But she set up another appt for this week...so maybe this week! Then we had a lesson with Byron and Corrina. It was our first lesson with them since we taught the Law of Chastity and asked them to set a wedding date...we were also hopeful that they would have good news for us...Unfortunetly they didn't...but they have started to look at wedding venues...it is expensive to not get married in the temple!! Crazy how the most wonderful marriage in the world is free eh?? Then we were able to teach Kenzie and her family. She was possibly going to get baptized this week, but things didn't work out so she has a date now for July 7, after her parents get back from Utah! Friday we had a really long day with not the best weather...but it wasn't as bad as it was supposed to be so I am really grateful for that! We basically just tracted all day and then we were able to teach Josephina. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and the importance of coming to church! But she has kind of regressed...she wasn't as open to the things we were teaching her this week. She needs to actually keep commitments and read the Book of Mormon so she can know it is true. I honestly just don't think she is willing to change just yet. That night we had supper with Betty...a single sister...she is a real talker, but she is so nice. We also got exciting news! They have announced the dates for the Calgary Temple open house and dedication!! The open house is from Sept 29-Oct 20! 3 weeks!! And then the dedication is Oct 28! I seriously can't wait!! It is going to be so great! Saturday was a lot like Friday. We did end up at Sister Sonnenberg's again...she said she had some flowers she wanted us to plant. So we went...she forgot to mention that the flower bed was overtaken by weeds and needed to be weeded first...Mom I think I have done more weeding on my mission that I have in my entire life...I promise I am not missing out on the garden weeding...but you see I don't get any benefit from the gardens I have weeded. So 4 hours later she said that was good and then cooked us supper. Funnyish story though...I HATE WORMS!!! They freak me out! Sister Garner and Sister Sonnenberg were very amused by how afraid of them I was...it probably was pretty comical. But don't judge me...so I have an irrational fear of worms...they just really gross me out! Sunday was a pretty busy day too...It was also B-Rad's birthday! I hope you had a great day! We had meetings we had to go to before church and they were exciting as always. Then we had church. Of course none of our investigators or the people that told us they would come to church came...but that is normal...Right before Sacrament meeting was going to start the bishop came to me and asked if I would be the "youth speaker" and bear my testimony. So that was a good opportunity. Then we just had normal church. Then after church we had ward choir...they are just starting so we went to the practice. After church we were busy with appts. We visited with the Browns who have the adorable little boy. Then the McDonalds....a LA/PM family...it was a little bit awkward. But then we had supper with the Low family. And then it was also Bro Williams birthday so they invited us over for cake and ice cream. So I even ate some cake for B-Rad's birthday all the way in Canada! Well that was our week...we have lots of stuff this week that I am excited for! I will tell you all about it next week of course! I know that Christ lives! He really does love us and is always there for us! I am grateful for His atonement and for the power that can have in our lives!! Sounds like you had a great week! Hope you have another good one! Happy Fathers day on Sunday! That is so great that you had a good stake conference with Elder Scott! I love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant