January 2, 2013

Hey Family and Friends!!! Well this week has been pretty exciting...I think. Well I guess we will find out as I tell you all about it! So we will start with Thurs...because of all the weird p-days and library closures, our weeks are all off...but anyways that was the last day that I emailed and then we had our weekly planning. That was pretty uneventful though because we don't really have any investigators to plan for because they are all out of town...but hopefully that is going to change with the beginning of the New Year! As part of our planning, we went to the church to make a bunch of copies of ward lists and maps so we could get our planners ready and functional for the new transfer. That evening we had supper with the Terner's. They are nice, but were getting over a cold/flu...that is not fun. I think most people in Canada are sick right now. Then we went to see Sister Ford. It was just her because the boys were visiting their dad for a few days during the holiday. She is pretty great and it was fun to be able to talk to her! Friday felt like a super long day...but it shouldn't have because we were really busy. So first we started off by having a lesson with Sister Jiang. She is so cute. We had a lesson about the importance of setting goals and she had a lot of great insights. After that lesson, we had a lesson with Sandra. She is still progressing, but this week she was having a hard time. Mostly because it is the first Christmas she hasn't spent with her family and she is uneasy about what the New Year holds. We are still trying to just keep our lessons pretty basic so it's not like we are trying to force our beliefs on her. We think it is better to establish some common ground. So we had a lesson about the Articles of Faith...what they are, why we have them, and why they are important. It went pretty well. Then we had supper with Sister Shideler. She usually gives us money to go out, but this time we had dinner at her house and it was pretty great. She is a super nice lady! Then we had a lesson with Christy. We were able to help her set up a few things she got for Christmas and then we had a lesson. This time we decided to pick the topic of the lesson. We chose Friends out of the For the Strength of Youth. It ended up being a great lesson. Saturday was another longish day...but we had lots of open time so we were able to deliver all the rest of our less active treats....even to the people that live out in the middle of nowhere. It is kind of nice to do it on a Saturday during the holidays because lots of people were home!! Anyways then we went to see Carmen. She is still doing great. This time she had a project for us! She gave us her Bible with all her favorite scriptures marked with sticky notes. She wanted us to type the reference and the scripture of all of them. That way she can have them all in one place. It was pretty fun. Carmen was extra giggly today too. Then we had one last dinner with the Mandarin Elders...it was actually pretty fun having them eat with us in the month of December. They have kind of become like our brothers...they just follow us around places. It has been a good month. Anyways we ate with Sister Sells. She is a single lady and super nice. She also made some really yummy food. When we were done with dinner, our District Leader called us and told us he had mail for us...so we met them and got some mail. Getting mail is always a good part of our day! Sunday was a GREAT day!! Well to start things off, we had lots of hours of church...and that is always good! We found out that next week we are having stake conference and that they are going to change all of the ward boundaries. It will be pretty exciting. Well after church, we had supper with Sister Larsen. She also invited her son and his family over...not going to lie it helped make things not awkward. We had to basically eat and run because we had to go to the EAST STAKE!!!! Why you ask? Well Amanda got baptized!!! And she asked me to speak on Baptism!!! Amanda is the girl who couldn't get baptized because her parents wouldn't let her... Anyways we were given permission to go! It was an incredible baptism and the spirit there was incredible. I was so honored that she asked me to speak! Not only was it great to be there to witness her baptism and be part of that, but it was so great to see a lot of the people I love from Chestermere!! As we were driving there, it felt like I was going home. It was a great evening! Monday was another great day! We started out with DDM's and for the first time in a long time, they were actually really good and I learned a lot of things. Well instead of going to lunch with the Elders, we decided to go to another baptism...with permission of course. Whose?? Aurora Clark!! Do you remember them from Queensland/Parkland?? Well it was also great! It was exactly 1 year from the day her dad, Ryan was baptized! It was great to be there, and to see all those people that I love!! On our way back to our area, we were stopped at the mission office because we needed windshield wiper fluid....they always have everything...so they filled us up! Then we went to our New Years Eve party...it was at the Palmers. It was lots of fun...even though we had to leave before it even started...it didn't start until 7, but we had to be in at 6. But we still had fun and were able to eat some yummy food. We were still able to get together with the other Elders at the church. We had fun because we got a new game...phase 10. So we had fun playing that and just laughing. When Sister Rice and I got home, we kept playing phase 10 for a little bit and then we celebrated the New Year at 10:30 and went to bed...it was probably one of the most boring New Years I have had ever...but it is great to be a missionary...so I guess that is ok. Tuesday was p-day and it was one of the best p-days in a long time. We had lots of time to just do whatever we wanted since the library was closed...and basically everything else too. But the mall was open...so we went shopping...well mostly looking. It was fun, but it just reminded me how much I am not going to fit into the real world...it is going to be extremely wierd. Anyways it was just lots of fun...probably because we were laughing for most of the day. Then we went to the church and played games with the Elders...and wrote some letters too. When p-day was all over, we had supper with Sister Rhodes. She is single, but her parents are living with her for right now...they are waiting for their visa to India...they are going on a mission there. The funny thing is that I know them from Chestermere. So it was a great evening. Then we went to see Sister Thomas and just talked with her for a little bit! I love her and I am so grateful she is my friend. I am glad she trusts us and thinks of us as friends...and not just missionaries!! Guess what I finished my goal of reading the entire Bible by the end of the year!! It was great and I learned so much! I am so grateful for the scriptures and the things they teach us!! We can learn new things every time we read from their pages!! Well I hope you all had a great week!! And you are all having a happy New Year!! I still can't believe it is already 2013!! Well I sure do love and miss you all!! Love, Sister Kaitlyn Marchant NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.