This week was another busy one! Transfers were this week and like I mentioned last week, two of our areas split into four missionaries, so it was a straight up gong show getting everything settled. One of the areas was sisters, and I swear they had enough stuff to supply the zone! We helped them move into their four-man apartment on Saturday, and we literally had to pack an apartment up into the mission trailer and van. It was fun though! Saturday mornings are usually pretty dead so it gave us something to do. Their apartment is beautiful! I asked Sister Woodruff (the Housing Coordinator) how many more moves we'd have to do to get one of them. They live right downtown and overlook the river valley, I'm jealous! Things are starting to calm down now that everyone's moved in and they've figured out boundaries and everything. Until next transfer I'm sure! :)
We also helped one of our recent converts, Sophie, move on Friday. She's from mainland China and was baptized just before I got here. She lived in the dorms on campus, but a dude moved in with her roommate so she decided it was time to leave. She moved in with one of the houses of girls in our ward. It was a pretty easy move though, she lived on the 5th floor of her building, but she didn't have a ton of stuff so it wasn't too bad. It was good to get her out of there.
We actually got a 19-year-old sister in our zone! We're also getting a Tongan sister in the next two weeks. She didn't make it out of the MTC because her appendix burst, so she should be out soon. Maybe she'll know Elder Fifita!
We sat down and planned our transfer, and it was a struggle to fit everything into a five week transfer! I don't remember if I talked about that.....but I'll do it again! This transfer is only five weeks to match back up with the MTC since they just cut down time in there by a third, so two weeks for english speakers. Anyways we have like two exchanges a week and we have zone conference this transfer, which will be interesting because Elder Coe and I haven't had a zone conference as zone leaders haha. We're excited though!
The Tofield elders randomly texted us on Thursday and asked us to come out and do baptismal interview since Elder Williams is the District Leader there. So Friday night we drove the hour out there, and I interview the guy. His name is Terry Roncin and he's sweet. Interviewing people is so fun. They're always so ready!
Yeah they made the Oregon Salem Mission! That's so sweet. Do you know what the boundaries will be? They also called our new mission president. His name is Larry G. Manion......and that's about all we know! Haha. He'll send me home though, which is lame because he'll only be here for 12 weeks before I leave. Oh well!
So earlier this week the temperatures went down again and we saw -15 for like two days, and then over the past couple of days it's been around 2 C. It's funny to hear people pray and say things like "We're grateful for the beautiful weather we've been having." Haha meanwhile I'm wearing thermals and a sweater.
Hey this week we got a text from one of our members saying her mom and then a friend of hers want to meet with us! So we're meeting with the friend on Thursday and then the mom we'll hopefully be able to set up a lesson later next week. We'll end up passing the mom to the family ward but it's still sweet! Hopefully that goes well.
That's pretty much the week! We have ZLC this Saturday, so that'll be sweet! Have yourselves a good week and I'll talk to you next Monday!
Love you guys,
Elder Read
Steven Read's adventures as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Canada Edmonton Mission.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
Happy Family Day
Heyyooooo
Today is history in the making! I am beginning my 3rd transfer with Elder Coe, which is my longest companion (and generally the longest they leave anyone together, for that matter). We pretty well expected it though so it wasn't a surprise. They started dividing areas, and out of the 6 in our mission that split in half, two are in our zone, and they're all training! So we'll have a bunch of newbies, including the 19 year old sisters which will be weird ha.
Today is Family Day which means everywhere is mostly shut down.....except the libraries for some reason. It's also Reading Week. Is that just a Canadian thing? I don't really know much about it except that everyone (including University students) gets the week off. So naturally, considering 99% of our ward is from Southern Alberta, we're a ghost town again! Church was pretty scarce, and the only reason we're being fed every day this week is because some people signed up twice. So I'm not complaining :) Our ward is sweet.
We went on exchanges with the Nottingham elders out in Sherwood Park, and I brought Elder Boatman to Millcreek it was long! We spent 2 hours out street contacting because we had no set appointments. It was like 6 C outside though so it wasn't too bad. People actually talk when it's above freezing :)
Speaking of, it's been a warm winter up here. I've only been in -20 C a few times, and outside of that it's pretty well stayed around freezing. No complaints! It's just strange. Global warming! :)
We taught Bryan again this week and taught about Our Life on Earth, and focused it around prayer. It was a super good lesson! We're trying to help him pray on his own. He's been reading the Book of Mormon though which is solid!
Dad that sign still looks good! Thanks for the pictures. I can't believe that was 3 and half years ago.
Yeah Dad for Quidditch you have 6 people out at once - One keeper, two beaters, a seeker, and three chasers. The "Quaffle" is a volleyball, and you run around and throw it through hoops hanging from chairs and basketball hoop. The beaters run around and throw foam dodge balls at the chasers and if they're hit they have to drop the volleyball. The keeper protects the hoops, and the seeker chases the snitch, who is someone wearing a yellow jersey, and tries to pull one of his flags from his waistline. Pretty sweet!
Hey my plants are doing well, in case you're wondering. Leonardo (the money tree) has been looking a little under the weather lately, but I think he's still adjusting to my desk. Mahonri on the other hand is blossoming no pun intended! I brought him into the apartment and I swear I heard him "shudder", and then he promptly dropped his leaves in the days following. But now he's growing again. I love plants!
I forgot my planner with everything on it that I wanted to right about.....and I can't remember for the life of me anything else that we did.....so more next week! :)
Love you guys!
Elder Read
Today is history in the making! I am beginning my 3rd transfer with Elder Coe, which is my longest companion (and generally the longest they leave anyone together, for that matter). We pretty well expected it though so it wasn't a surprise. They started dividing areas, and out of the 6 in our mission that split in half, two are in our zone, and they're all training! So we'll have a bunch of newbies, including the 19 year old sisters which will be weird ha.
Today is Family Day which means everywhere is mostly shut down.....except the libraries for some reason. It's also Reading Week. Is that just a Canadian thing? I don't really know much about it except that everyone (including University students) gets the week off. So naturally, considering 99% of our ward is from Southern Alberta, we're a ghost town again! Church was pretty scarce, and the only reason we're being fed every day this week is because some people signed up twice. So I'm not complaining :) Our ward is sweet.
We went on exchanges with the Nottingham elders out in Sherwood Park, and I brought Elder Boatman to Millcreek it was long! We spent 2 hours out street contacting because we had no set appointments. It was like 6 C outside though so it wasn't too bad. People actually talk when it's above freezing :)
Speaking of, it's been a warm winter up here. I've only been in -20 C a few times, and outside of that it's pretty well stayed around freezing. No complaints! It's just strange. Global warming! :)
We taught Bryan again this week and taught about Our Life on Earth, and focused it around prayer. It was a super good lesson! We're trying to help him pray on his own. He's been reading the Book of Mormon though which is solid!
Dad that sign still looks good! Thanks for the pictures. I can't believe that was 3 and half years ago.
Yeah Dad for Quidditch you have 6 people out at once - One keeper, two beaters, a seeker, and three chasers. The "Quaffle" is a volleyball, and you run around and throw it through hoops hanging from chairs and basketball hoop. The beaters run around and throw foam dodge balls at the chasers and if they're hit they have to drop the volleyball. The keeper protects the hoops, and the seeker chases the snitch, who is someone wearing a yellow jersey, and tries to pull one of his flags from his waistline. Pretty sweet!
Hey my plants are doing well, in case you're wondering. Leonardo (the money tree) has been looking a little under the weather lately, but I think he's still adjusting to my desk. Mahonri on the other hand is blossoming no pun intended! I brought him into the apartment and I swear I heard him "shudder", and then he promptly dropped his leaves in the days following. But now he's growing again. I love plants!
I forgot my planner with everything on it that I wanted to right about.....and I can't remember for the life of me anything else that we did.....so more next week! :)
Love you guys!
Elder Read
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I'm a Wizard!
Sorry I don't even remember if I told you about the temple today, but Pday was moved to today so we could go!
Yesterday for Family Home Evening we played Quidditch it was so legit! Basically you're on brooms and instead of flying, you run! It was difficult in a suit, but we made it work. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get my inner Harry on. YSA is where it's at!
My birthday went really well! I remember last year it was just a gong show since I got transferred to Spruce, but this year it was way better. I actually knew people around me! Haha at Zone Training Meeting they surprised me with a cake and apple pie, and then Elder Coe made me pancakes, and then everyone in the zone wrote on a card! It was sweet. Then dinner at Shawna's was super good. Mom that was the exact cheesecake I was talking about! It was delicious. She asked me what I wanted for dinner that night and I told her......chicken enchiladas! Remember how I hated those? Old news I eat everything now!
Lloydminster was sweet! I've now been to Saskatchewan! It's a lot like Alberta, at least on the border. Weird I know! We stayed all day Tuesday and then went straight from there to zone training meeting in St. Paul on Wednesday. Then we drove home! I missed my bed.
Transfers are next week, and Elder Coe and I think we'll stay together. But who knows! Assistant calls go out tonight so we're hoping that Elder Coe gets a call....then I can say I produced an AP! They told us we might be moving this transfer....and we think it'll be because they'll move us into a four man apartment, which would be a party! We're crossing our fingers.
We had a Chinese New Year fireside on Saturday it was sweet. They showed the Restoration in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English in different rooms, and then one of the guys in the Mission Presidency spoke. Then they fed us a bunch of Chinese food! It was delicious. One of the girls in our english class who isn't a member came and really enjoyed it. She has some questions so hopefully we'll be able to meet this week and answer them :)
Other than that it was a normal week! Glad to hear you're all doing well, have a good week :)
Love you guys,
Elder Read
Yesterday for Family Home Evening we played Quidditch it was so legit! Basically you're on brooms and instead of flying, you run! It was difficult in a suit, but we made it work. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to get my inner Harry on. YSA is where it's at!
My birthday went really well! I remember last year it was just a gong show since I got transferred to Spruce, but this year it was way better. I actually knew people around me! Haha at Zone Training Meeting they surprised me with a cake and apple pie, and then Elder Coe made me pancakes, and then everyone in the zone wrote on a card! It was sweet. Then dinner at Shawna's was super good. Mom that was the exact cheesecake I was talking about! It was delicious. She asked me what I wanted for dinner that night and I told her......chicken enchiladas! Remember how I hated those? Old news I eat everything now!
Lloydminster was sweet! I've now been to Saskatchewan! It's a lot like Alberta, at least on the border. Weird I know! We stayed all day Tuesday and then went straight from there to zone training meeting in St. Paul on Wednesday. Then we drove home! I missed my bed.
Transfers are next week, and Elder Coe and I think we'll stay together. But who knows! Assistant calls go out tonight so we're hoping that Elder Coe gets a call....then I can say I produced an AP! They told us we might be moving this transfer....and we think it'll be because they'll move us into a four man apartment, which would be a party! We're crossing our fingers.
We had a Chinese New Year fireside on Saturday it was sweet. They showed the Restoration in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English in different rooms, and then one of the guys in the Mission Presidency spoke. Then they fed us a bunch of Chinese food! It was delicious. One of the girls in our english class who isn't a member came and really enjoyed it. She has some questions so hopefully we'll be able to meet this week and answer them :)
Other than that it was a normal week! Glad to hear you're all doing well, have a good week :)
Love you guys,
Elder Read
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sometimes boys paint their nails too
Heyo,
I've been putting this nail polish on that tastes super bad (it's actually made to be like that, this isn't actual nail polish haha) and it makes my nails sparkle, so for whatever reason everyone's been noticing lately! I've had so many people ask me about it after lessons. It's pretty effective to tell you the truth. I stopped at the beginning of my mission and that lasted for around 9 months, but then I fell back into it and so I'm trying a more permanent approach. It's been good for like 3 months so that's good enough for me.
Let's talk about the weather! This week when we went to Vermilion it was -40 with wind chill. So in accordance with the mission handbook, we went to scheduled appointments only! But considering it's such a small area with a tiny branch and not very many investigators, we sat inside haha. It was fun but only because there were 4 of us. Anyways, I digress. Once Friday hit the temperature went the opposite way and now we're sitting in a balmy 3 C. Yesterday it was 7 C and we were walking in just our suits! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some consistency.
This week was exciting! Vermilion really was fun. We actually did have a couple of appointments, I was just being dramatic. We did some service and a local Elementary School feeding little kids lunch (just handing them soy sauce actually, we didn't actually feed them). Then we helped this older guy clean his house. It was a little gross because it had been some time since their last visit, but it was good to help him out. That night we drove out to this little town called Derwent because they have this famous pizza! I honestly believe that that's why the town was created because there's the pizza place, a gas station, and maybe 4 houses haha. It was super good though! They had a guest registry book thingy, and people had come from New Orleans, Toronto, California, etc.
We've been teaching english classes every Wednesday and Saturday it's been sweet! There are a bunch of Chinese people coming and a few of them are non-members so it's been really good. We teach with the sisters in our zone and honestly they are way better english teachers than we are hahaha but they don't like teaching every time so we take turns. We mostly just play games that get them talking in english, and then we go over the vocabulary from the opening hymn! Very subtle :)
We went on exchanges with Forest Heights, the area to the north, and I went to their area with Elder Hathaway. They're a walking area, but it was a warm day so I actually enjoyed it. They cover the more busy part of downtown so it was a complete gong show walking down the street trying to talk to people haha. But that's what makes it fun :)
Yeah it's my birthday on Friday! I don't really know what to do with myself. It's Weekly Planning so I'll probably just.....plan! Mom don't you remember that delicious cheese cake you'd always make with the blackberries and blueberries either in it or on the bottom? Then you'd put it in the fridge and Bryant and I would eat it? If you can't remember then ask Bryant he'll know :) That's the one I want Shawna to make! Hey thanks for the package! The cookies are gone haha and the little puzzle books are perfect! I loved the pictures too especially of the light sabers! I knew Grandpa was a Jedi. You're the best!
Zone Leader Council was on Saturday and that was pretty sweet. President showed a video clip of Russell M. Nelson talking about how the Lord is hastening His work with all of the new missionaries. He also talked about how exciting it is to be a missionary during all of the craziness! It was sweet. So as per usual, we now have to plan zone training meeting for this week! We'll do the outlying area meeting on Wednesday and the city meeting on Thursday.
Tonight we're driving out to Lloydminster which is literally right on the border of Saskatchewan. It splits the city in half. So we'll go out tonight, stay all day Tuesday, and then Wednesday we'll all drive to St. Paul for ZTM! Then we'll drive home. So it'll be a pretty busy week! No exchanges though so it won't be too bad.
Bryan our investigator is doing really well! He's still pretty skeptical about Joseph Smith and really just God in general, but he's open to it which is all he needs. We're trying to help him have the faith to do something to find out if God exists. He's awesome though I enjoy teaching him.
Hey random fact! Did you know that the new Canadian money smells like maple? I didn't believe it until I smelled one of the 20's I have and sure enough it's the truth! So we were trying to think of what our money would smell like...and we couldn't think of anything nice haha.
That's sweet that Collin got his mission call by the way!! He'll be a way good missionary. Does he go straight there or to Provo?
That's all I've got for today. Thanks for everything you guys do, I miss you!
Love you guys,
Elder Read
I've been putting this nail polish on that tastes super bad (it's actually made to be like that, this isn't actual nail polish haha) and it makes my nails sparkle, so for whatever reason everyone's been noticing lately! I've had so many people ask me about it after lessons. It's pretty effective to tell you the truth. I stopped at the beginning of my mission and that lasted for around 9 months, but then I fell back into it and so I'm trying a more permanent approach. It's been good for like 3 months so that's good enough for me.
Let's talk about the weather! This week when we went to Vermilion it was -40 with wind chill. So in accordance with the mission handbook, we went to scheduled appointments only! But considering it's such a small area with a tiny branch and not very many investigators, we sat inside haha. It was fun but only because there were 4 of us. Anyways, I digress. Once Friday hit the temperature went the opposite way and now we're sitting in a balmy 3 C. Yesterday it was 7 C and we were walking in just our suits! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for some consistency.
This week was exciting! Vermilion really was fun. We actually did have a couple of appointments, I was just being dramatic. We did some service and a local Elementary School feeding little kids lunch (just handing them soy sauce actually, we didn't actually feed them). Then we helped this older guy clean his house. It was a little gross because it had been some time since their last visit, but it was good to help him out. That night we drove out to this little town called Derwent because they have this famous pizza! I honestly believe that that's why the town was created because there's the pizza place, a gas station, and maybe 4 houses haha. It was super good though! They had a guest registry book thingy, and people had come from New Orleans, Toronto, California, etc.
We've been teaching english classes every Wednesday and Saturday it's been sweet! There are a bunch of Chinese people coming and a few of them are non-members so it's been really good. We teach with the sisters in our zone and honestly they are way better english teachers than we are hahaha but they don't like teaching every time so we take turns. We mostly just play games that get them talking in english, and then we go over the vocabulary from the opening hymn! Very subtle :)
We went on exchanges with Forest Heights, the area to the north, and I went to their area with Elder Hathaway. They're a walking area, but it was a warm day so I actually enjoyed it. They cover the more busy part of downtown so it was a complete gong show walking down the street trying to talk to people haha. But that's what makes it fun :)
Yeah it's my birthday on Friday! I don't really know what to do with myself. It's Weekly Planning so I'll probably just.....plan! Mom don't you remember that delicious cheese cake you'd always make with the blackberries and blueberries either in it or on the bottom? Then you'd put it in the fridge and Bryant and I would eat it? If you can't remember then ask Bryant he'll know :) That's the one I want Shawna to make! Hey thanks for the package! The cookies are gone haha and the little puzzle books are perfect! I loved the pictures too especially of the light sabers! I knew Grandpa was a Jedi. You're the best!
Zone Leader Council was on Saturday and that was pretty sweet. President showed a video clip of Russell M. Nelson talking about how the Lord is hastening His work with all of the new missionaries. He also talked about how exciting it is to be a missionary during all of the craziness! It was sweet. So as per usual, we now have to plan zone training meeting for this week! We'll do the outlying area meeting on Wednesday and the city meeting on Thursday.
Tonight we're driving out to Lloydminster which is literally right on the border of Saskatchewan. It splits the city in half. So we'll go out tonight, stay all day Tuesday, and then Wednesday we'll all drive to St. Paul for ZTM! Then we'll drive home. So it'll be a pretty busy week! No exchanges though so it won't be too bad.
Bryan our investigator is doing really well! He's still pretty skeptical about Joseph Smith and really just God in general, but he's open to it which is all he needs. We're trying to help him have the faith to do something to find out if God exists. He's awesome though I enjoy teaching him.
Hey random fact! Did you know that the new Canadian money smells like maple? I didn't believe it until I smelled one of the 20's I have and sure enough it's the truth! So we were trying to think of what our money would smell like...and we couldn't think of anything nice haha.
That's sweet that Collin got his mission call by the way!! He'll be a way good missionary. Does he go straight there or to Provo?
That's all I've got for today. Thanks for everything you guys do, I miss you!
Love you guys,
Elder Read
Monday, January 28, 2013
Happy Australia Day!
Hey Homies,
I bought a bonzai tree! It was only $15! Haha I was at the assistant's apartment the other day and they had some crazy plant where you can braid it and I got jealous. So I went out today and bought my own plant. I'm pretty stoked :)
This week was good! On Tuesday we had interviews with President and they went really well. It's nice to be able to talk with him in person. Like I said last week, we had to be there for the whole thing, and we just checked planners and area books and wrote little notes in them. Pretty easy, and it was good to see everyone I actually enjoyed it! Sister Campbell always brings a bunch of snacks for everyone to eat.....so we partook! It was good.
After interviews, Tofield, was the last one, and right after we went on exchanges. I brought Elder Williams to Millcreek and it went really well! Then on Friday we exchanged with Strathcona and I went to their area with Elder Mann. I always learn a ton from exchanges it's super good for me. You'll never guess who we ate dinner with though! It was the Williams family and Bro. Williams trained Michael Boswell in Riverside! Haha small world. He had a lot of good things to say about Michael which didn't surprise me! So that was pretty nifty.
We met with Bryan again this week and officially started the lessons it was awesome. He's really engaged during lessons and he comprehends it like nobody's business! He asks a lot of questions it's great. We're going back over on Wednesday to finish the other half of Lessons 1 aka Joseph Smith. Which will be really good for him because that's where a lot of his questions and concerns stem from.
On Saturday we had a missionary fireside at the institute building called "A Night with Christ." One of the other YSA wards organized it, but each ward had a room to run. Basically it was a walk-through type activity, where each room has a different aspect of Christ or his life. It was really good! We ran the first room which had a couple of musical numbers and the "For God so Loved the World" Bible Video. We even got a referral from it for one of the areas in our zone so it was worth it! :)
Tonight we're going to Vermillion again to blitz! So after FHE we'll drive up and hopefully get there before 11pm this time :) We'll spend all day Tuesday there and then drive home Wednesday morning. Party!
Our area's doing super well. Just in the past week we've had a ton of people talk to us about people they're working with. So now we just have to get people to identify and take the next step! We've got a lot of potential I'm excited to see what happens.
I think that's all the exciting stuff I have to talk about. Besides that I got Gramma Read's letter so tell her thanks! :) I love hearing from her. We're going 5-pin bowling again today with some of the other missionaries so we gotta go home and clean. Have a good week!
Love you guys!
Elder Read
I bought a bonzai tree! It was only $15! Haha I was at the assistant's apartment the other day and they had some crazy plant where you can braid it and I got jealous. So I went out today and bought my own plant. I'm pretty stoked :)
This week was good! On Tuesday we had interviews with President and they went really well. It's nice to be able to talk with him in person. Like I said last week, we had to be there for the whole thing, and we just checked planners and area books and wrote little notes in them. Pretty easy, and it was good to see everyone I actually enjoyed it! Sister Campbell always brings a bunch of snacks for everyone to eat.....so we partook! It was good.
After interviews, Tofield, was the last one, and right after we went on exchanges. I brought Elder Williams to Millcreek and it went really well! Then on Friday we exchanged with Strathcona and I went to their area with Elder Mann. I always learn a ton from exchanges it's super good for me. You'll never guess who we ate dinner with though! It was the Williams family and Bro. Williams trained Michael Boswell in Riverside! Haha small world. He had a lot of good things to say about Michael which didn't surprise me! So that was pretty nifty.
We met with Bryan again this week and officially started the lessons it was awesome. He's really engaged during lessons and he comprehends it like nobody's business! He asks a lot of questions it's great. We're going back over on Wednesday to finish the other half of Lessons 1 aka Joseph Smith. Which will be really good for him because that's where a lot of his questions and concerns stem from.
On Saturday we had a missionary fireside at the institute building called "A Night with Christ." One of the other YSA wards organized it, but each ward had a room to run. Basically it was a walk-through type activity, where each room has a different aspect of Christ or his life. It was really good! We ran the first room which had a couple of musical numbers and the "For God so Loved the World" Bible Video. We even got a referral from it for one of the areas in our zone so it was worth it! :)
Tonight we're going to Vermillion again to blitz! So after FHE we'll drive up and hopefully get there before 11pm this time :) We'll spend all day Tuesday there and then drive home Wednesday morning. Party!
Our area's doing super well. Just in the past week we've had a ton of people talk to us about people they're working with. So now we just have to get people to identify and take the next step! We've got a lot of potential I'm excited to see what happens.
I think that's all the exciting stuff I have to talk about. Besides that I got Gramma Read's letter so tell her thanks! :) I love hearing from her. We're going 5-pin bowling again today with some of the other missionaries so we gotta go home and clean. Have a good week!
Love you guys!
Elder Read
Monday, January 21, 2013
I'm always cold!
Hey O!
It's cold outside. Right now it's like -15 C and yesterday it got down to -25 C. Plus I'm not even wearing thermals! I'll never learn. I just keep telling myself I'll never have to deal with this again in 3 months!
Hey I got mail! :) Man alive was I excited. I never get mail anymore! Just kidding I occasionally do and I'm definitely not ungrateful (that was a double negative) but I got a whole 3 letters! I was ridin' Cloud Nine! I got a letter from Geoff, Gramma Read and the Sukhus! They were sweet. I love mail. Speaking of the Sukhus, their 9-year-old daughter, Sierra, is on date to be baptized on March 2nd! If you think back with me to Spruce Grove, Tony, Danielle, and Shelby were all baptized, and Brooke was too young, but they wanted to wait with Sierra because she didn't see the importance of it. But wait no longer! I was so excited when I saw it on the reports the other day. I'm trying to get permission to go. That would be sick! PLUS they all got their Patriarchal Blessings! Man oh man missionary work is sweet. Like I said, Cloud Nine.
So this week was pretty exciting! We had Zone Training Meeting in St. Paul on Wednesday. So we drove out there in the morning, had the meeting at 1pm, and then drove home just in time for dinner at 6pm! Except we were super late so more like 6:30. Anywho, that was fun I got some good letters written!
Thursday was ZTM for the city areas. That went pretty well too! Most of the time they'll just start talking and we just have to lead a discussion it's pretty sweet. We have a talkative zone!
Friday we had exchanges with the Assistantes it went well! We went to Red Robin for dinner and I felt like Nicole should have been there! Seriously every time I go there I just think of Nicole. I love that place though. Remember the week before I got diagnosed with the Betes I drank like 10 Freckled Lemonades!? Crazy! I had a water on exchanges.
Tomorrow is interviews with President Campbell. Which means our day is essentially gone-zo! We go there at like 8:30am and don't leave until 4pm! We sit there while everyone gets interviewed and check their planners, area books, take their pictures, etc etc.... It'll be fun though to see everyone! We then go straight to exchanges with Tofield, and then Friday we have exchanges with Strathcona, another city area. So two exchanges and interviews! Life is busy.
Hey we found a new investigator this week! We've been praying a lot for people to teach and WABOOM! The Lord provides. Brian is dating a member in our ward, and he lives with another member. So we went over for dinner and talked with him and he's sweet I like him a lot. He agreed to take the discussions and so we're going to meet on Wednesday. We're pretty stoked.
We officially passed Cal over to the missionaries on the west end. It was sad to hand him over because he was sweet! But it'll be better for him so he doesn't have to pioneer-trek it across Edmonton every time.
Guess what I learned how to juggle! Our Bishop gave us some Canadian juggling balls for Christmas, and I finally pulled them out during Weekly Planning, because Weekly Planning is English for "do random stuff time." Haha just kidding....but seriously I learned how! I just picked them up and started practicing and an hour later I could do it! I now juggle after nightly planning, lunch, and any other time we aren't doing anything! I'm so excited, let me tell you. I've decided your mission is the perfect time to pick up random talents like ukulele because you have all the time in the world! So if you're wondering if you should serve, I hope this paragraph turns the tables....the right way haha.
For my birthday.....I don't know haha I don't need anything! But since you're persistent I liked that Sudoku book :)
Hey tell Geoff Happy Early Birthday for me! :) He even sent me a letter for his birthday I'm touched :)
Okay that's all for today. One of the companionships suggested we play Minute to Win It for Pday.....so we'll see how that goes! You're all the best and I appreciate your letters....whoever you are!
Love you guys!
Elder Read
PS I attached random pictures from our dinner appointment the other day. Enjoy!
It's cold outside. Right now it's like -15 C and yesterday it got down to -25 C. Plus I'm not even wearing thermals! I'll never learn. I just keep telling myself I'll never have to deal with this again in 3 months!
Hey I got mail! :) Man alive was I excited. I never get mail anymore! Just kidding I occasionally do and I'm definitely not ungrateful (that was a double negative) but I got a whole 3 letters! I was ridin' Cloud Nine! I got a letter from Geoff, Gramma Read and the Sukhus! They were sweet. I love mail. Speaking of the Sukhus, their 9-year-old daughter, Sierra, is on date to be baptized on March 2nd! If you think back with me to Spruce Grove, Tony, Danielle, and Shelby were all baptized, and Brooke was too young, but they wanted to wait with Sierra because she didn't see the importance of it. But wait no longer! I was so excited when I saw it on the reports the other day. I'm trying to get permission to go. That would be sick! PLUS they all got their Patriarchal Blessings! Man oh man missionary work is sweet. Like I said, Cloud Nine.
So this week was pretty exciting! We had Zone Training Meeting in St. Paul on Wednesday. So we drove out there in the morning, had the meeting at 1pm, and then drove home just in time for dinner at 6pm! Except we were super late so more like 6:30. Anywho, that was fun I got some good letters written!
Thursday was ZTM for the city areas. That went pretty well too! Most of the time they'll just start talking and we just have to lead a discussion it's pretty sweet. We have a talkative zone!
Friday we had exchanges with the Assistantes it went well! We went to Red Robin for dinner and I felt like Nicole should have been there! Seriously every time I go there I just think of Nicole. I love that place though. Remember the week before I got diagnosed with the Betes I drank like 10 Freckled Lemonades!? Crazy! I had a water on exchanges.
Tomorrow is interviews with President Campbell. Which means our day is essentially gone-zo! We go there at like 8:30am and don't leave until 4pm! We sit there while everyone gets interviewed and check their planners, area books, take their pictures, etc etc.... It'll be fun though to see everyone! We then go straight to exchanges with Tofield, and then Friday we have exchanges with Strathcona, another city area. So two exchanges and interviews! Life is busy.
Hey we found a new investigator this week! We've been praying a lot for people to teach and WABOOM! The Lord provides. Brian is dating a member in our ward, and he lives with another member. So we went over for dinner and talked with him and he's sweet I like him a lot. He agreed to take the discussions and so we're going to meet on Wednesday. We're pretty stoked.
We officially passed Cal over to the missionaries on the west end. It was sad to hand him over because he was sweet! But it'll be better for him so he doesn't have to pioneer-trek it across Edmonton every time.
Guess what I learned how to juggle! Our Bishop gave us some Canadian juggling balls for Christmas, and I finally pulled them out during Weekly Planning, because Weekly Planning is English for "do random stuff time." Haha just kidding....but seriously I learned how! I just picked them up and started practicing and an hour later I could do it! I now juggle after nightly planning, lunch, and any other time we aren't doing anything! I'm so excited, let me tell you. I've decided your mission is the perfect time to pick up random talents like ukulele because you have all the time in the world! So if you're wondering if you should serve, I hope this paragraph turns the tables....the right way haha.
For my birthday.....I don't know haha I don't need anything! But since you're persistent I liked that Sudoku book :)
Hey tell Geoff Happy Early Birthday for me! :) He even sent me a letter for his birthday I'm touched :)
Okay that's all for today. One of the companionships suggested we play Minute to Win It for Pday.....so we'll see how that goes! You're all the best and I appreciate your letters....whoever you are!
Love you guys!
Elder Read
PS I attached random pictures from our dinner appointment the other day. Enjoy!
Monday, January 14, 2013
Another Cold Week Down!
Family and friends of me,
Your letters this week were pretty funny, I laughed out loud on a couple of occasions. Mom that's hilarious that you forgot your talk! Speaking on goals too that's not very easy. Haha I especially liked when you said, "Joan reminded me that I had made a few goals to clean off my sewing table and clean off my dresser and go to the temple." I laughed pretty hard. love Sister Little she's the funniest lady I know :) You've officially done what I haven't! I've thankfully never had to speak at the last minute on my mission, which is fine by me! But as far as teaching Gospel Principles last minute, I'm a pro!
This week was pretty solid, I enjoyed it! We spent some time on Tuesday planning out the transfer and things like exchanges, and we have another busy transfer! I'm excited though.
Thursday was our monthly Institute Coordination Meeting, where we meet with the Institute Director, President and Sister Campbell, and then all of the YSA missionaries in Edmonton. There's 6 YSA wards so 12 missionaries total. It was a good meeting they mostly talk about the upcoming events, and getting investigators to Institute. It was pretty sweet.
Saturday was ZLC and that was pretty sweet. We talked about the new year, set a baptismal goal for the year, etc. President and the Assistants gave some good trainings, and Sister Campbell made a BOMB lunch as usual :)
After ZLC Elder Coe and I drove home and almost immediately we had a lesson with Cal, the guy we met street contacting a few weeks ago. He's moved out of our area but we wanted to see where he was at. President Campbell came too! I'm always super nervous going into lessons with him but he's a super good teacher and helps a lot, so it was good. Cal is solid, it's too bad we'll have to pass him to the other missionaries but that's life!
Last night we got to go to the CES broadcast by President Uchtdorf :) One of the many advantages to being YSA missionaries! We could only go if we brought an investigator, so Sam, a guy in our ward who isn't a member yet but lives the member life, came with us! It was sweet President Uchtdorf talked about truth and what it really is. Go read it!
Other than that not too much to report on. This week we have Zone Training Meeting since ZLC was last week, so we'll spend a lot of Tuesday planning that training, and then Wednesday we'll drive out to St. Paul and do the meeting for the outlying areas, and then Thursday we'll do the city meeting. We also have exchanges with the assistants this week so that'll be fun! I'm going with Elder Paulson who was my zone leader in Red Deer.
Mom I just bought shoes, no boots. I'm determined to go through my mission without boots. Ya know, just to say that I did. Honestly we don't do a lot of trudging through wide open prairies so the snow isn't deep where I actually walk in it haha :)
Alright we're headed out, enjoy your lives for the next week!
Love you guys,
Elder Read
Your letters this week were pretty funny, I laughed out loud on a couple of occasions. Mom that's hilarious that you forgot your talk! Speaking on goals too that's not very easy. Haha I especially liked when you said, "Joan reminded me that I had made a few goals to clean off my sewing table and clean off my dresser and go to the temple." I laughed pretty hard. love Sister Little she's the funniest lady I know :) You've officially done what I haven't! I've thankfully never had to speak at the last minute on my mission, which is fine by me! But as far as teaching Gospel Principles last minute, I'm a pro!
This week was pretty solid, I enjoyed it! We spent some time on Tuesday planning out the transfer and things like exchanges, and we have another busy transfer! I'm excited though.
Thursday was our monthly Institute Coordination Meeting, where we meet with the Institute Director, President and Sister Campbell, and then all of the YSA missionaries in Edmonton. There's 6 YSA wards so 12 missionaries total. It was a good meeting they mostly talk about the upcoming events, and getting investigators to Institute. It was pretty sweet.
Saturday was ZLC and that was pretty sweet. We talked about the new year, set a baptismal goal for the year, etc. President and the Assistants gave some good trainings, and Sister Campbell made a BOMB lunch as usual :)
After ZLC Elder Coe and I drove home and almost immediately we had a lesson with Cal, the guy we met street contacting a few weeks ago. He's moved out of our area but we wanted to see where he was at. President Campbell came too! I'm always super nervous going into lessons with him but he's a super good teacher and helps a lot, so it was good. Cal is solid, it's too bad we'll have to pass him to the other missionaries but that's life!
Last night we got to go to the CES broadcast by President Uchtdorf :) One of the many advantages to being YSA missionaries! We could only go if we brought an investigator, so Sam, a guy in our ward who isn't a member yet but lives the member life, came with us! It was sweet President Uchtdorf talked about truth and what it really is. Go read it!
Other than that not too much to report on. This week we have Zone Training Meeting since ZLC was last week, so we'll spend a lot of Tuesday planning that training, and then Wednesday we'll drive out to St. Paul and do the meeting for the outlying areas, and then Thursday we'll do the city meeting. We also have exchanges with the assistants this week so that'll be fun! I'm going with Elder Paulson who was my zone leader in Red Deer.
Mom I just bought shoes, no boots. I'm determined to go through my mission without boots. Ya know, just to say that I did. Honestly we don't do a lot of trudging through wide open prairies so the snow isn't deep where I actually walk in it haha :)
Alright we're headed out, enjoy your lives for the next week!
Love you guys,
Elder Read
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