Walking in a Winter Wonderland.....

The snow hit! Let me tell you, I didn't miss it ha. It started snowing earlier in the week but none of it really stuck because it wasn't cold enough, but then it sunk down to like -6 C and has been there ever since. So the snow stuck all yesterday and this morning! Our little Chevy Cruze doesn't do so well in the snow either. I drive like a grandma now! Speaking of which, I started driving again. But not by choice. Elder Penrod's exed and can't drive, so once again I'm the designated driver for the next 3 months! Haha I'll never get away from it, but that's okay it's not bad.

This week was sweet! We drove up to St. Paul on Friday to visit the elders up there. Their area is SLOW haha I don't envy them at all. Elder Morley was my zone leader for a long time when I was in Spruce and again when I was in Red Deer so it was good to see him again. It was a 2 hour drive and it seemed way longer! Driving in Alberta is so boring haha it's so flat! Driving the 5 hours to Ft. Macmurray is gonna kill me!

The temple dedication was yesterday and it was soo sweet! We went to the first session, and so they showed the cornerstone ceremony. President Monson is a funny funny guy I just enjoyed watching him be normal. Elder Ballard came with him and talked a lot about his time in Canada as a mission president, and Elder Christenson and Elder Walker of the Seventy came too. They're both from Alberta! They did 3 sessions and the members that went to the last session said that by the end President Monson looked exhausted haha poor guy.

Our investigator Maggie is doing really well! She's being baptized on Sunday, so she's way excited. We were supposed to have it on Saturday but we have ZLC that day so we pushed it back to Sunday.We went over and taught her tithing yesterday with her husband who's a member and it went really well. They're concerned about paying it right now because they're in a tight spot for money. I guess they have a lot of unpaid debts in China still, and so that's where their focus is. But we read 1 Nephi 3:7 with them and explained that God prepares a way for people to keep the commandments He gives us. After awhile they agreed to give it a try and put their trust in the Lord and see if He doesn't bless them like Malachi talks about. She's solid though!

Ray, our other investigator is so solid. I love that guy and I've only known him for a week. He's in his 60's and has a big problem with smoking, but he really wants to obey God and be baptized, he just can't because of smoking. So we're working with him on the Stop Smoking Program. He'll come around eventually, it'll just take awhile.

We called a former investigator last week and set up an appointment with him, his name's Rick. We met with him on Wednesday and jus talked with him about his religious background. He studies a lot of history and so he's pretty interested in the Book of Mormon and the origin of the Indians, etc. His teaching record didnt' say why he was dropped though so we'll see what happens! Haha

Hey Mom I called Animas and told them about my faulty buttons on my pump, and they're sending me a brand new one! How sweet is that? They say it'll be here on Thursday :) A new pump and meter remote in less than a month! I'm spoiled.

Hey tell Ethan Happy Late Birthday for me! I miss that little guy. It sounds like you had fun talking with everyone that's sweet :)

That's sweet that you're having the missionaries over on Halloween! It does my heart good to hear that! Do they have to be back in by 6pm too? We do it sucks haha. Our meal calendar is barren right now! I don't know what it is with zone leader areas, but everyone I've seen has such a hard time getting dinners it's garbage!

Hey I went on exchanges with the Assistants this week! It was way sweet. We ate dinner at this young couple's house, and he served his mission in Portland like a year and a half ago! His name was Elder Gregson if anyone knew him.....anyways we talked a lot about Oregon it was sweet! If I didn't live in Oregon,I would have loved that mission!

Hey tell Grandma that I do need new shirts, but I need new shoes too...but I don't want her to send me something and have it not fit or something. So if you wanna just send me the money and I can buy them, whatever works for you. I can't really think of anything else I NEED. Just surprise me :)

Alright I'm out of things to ramble about....so have a good week!

Love you guys,

Elder Read