What is Canadian Boxing Day?

Boxing day...it's a let down. haha It's basically just a holiday where no one has to work. So we visited some families that were home. There were actually a couple people that we visited that asked US what boxing day was. uhhh ok. But someone told us it's like black friday in the US. good sales on electronics and what not. But that stinks cuz it's after Christmas.

 Sounds like everyone had a good Christmas. You're right...it wasn't the same! It just isn't when you're not with family.

I can't believe Lyndsay F. is going to MOSCOW. Holyyyyy!  i can't believe that! Russia. wow! Little lyndsay speaking Russian. crazy, crazy!

 Thanks for everyones bday dates! Taylors card is in the mail :) I never realized that the fam covers every month except Dec. that's cool! I also got 8 letters in the mail on tuesday! HOLLA! it was late tuesday so i didn't have time to write everyone back...and some of the letters were sent early december. i'm not neglecting any of you! I'm just being obedient! haha Gma, this is a special message for you too---i will write you on monday! pinkie swear.

Mom, people are pretty candid about what they call people--like african american. it's usally just "brown" or "black" or "white" and no one is offended so that's different. There are so many people from all over that a lot of the time they'll say "jamaican" or "white jamaican" like the lady yesterday telling us about her husband. so there ya go!

Yesterday we got our first real snow. It's probably the coldest it's been as well. It was -7*c but felt -15*c with windchill. If ya do the math, that's not super harsh...its like 20F or so i think...i dunno, google it. haha

Let me answer your Qs...
Did you do any Christmas baking? NOpe. we were gonna make popcorn balls but we're poor. soooo. didn't happen

  

What are you doing for New Year’s? We're in by 6pm that night...so going to bed early! yay! I'm not sure if it's still fast sunday that sunday or not.

Alright...There's a few cool things i wrote down to tell ya'll. Like...the freeway we drive on practically every day is called QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) I'm still waiting to find Prince Harry Way. Also to get the library i'm emailing from now, we take Duke of York Blvd. Oh canada, keeping it classy!

Last Pday when we were emailing, it was rainy and super foggy. We were walking along in downtown Mississauga (which we refer to as Missi'swagger'. so much cooler) and the tall apt buildings were covered in fog. it was pretty cool. when it's foggy and cloudy, it's not as cold. sweet! But you could really smell lake ontario that day--it smells nasty nast!

Everyone, EVERYONE drinks tea here! Herbal tea--so i guess we're allowed to drink it. dang. cuz it's gross. A sister we visit asked me to pour it for us 3 and i poured sis W a full cup of it and barely any in mine and the look she gave me was priceless. It was so funny because she had to drink it all...little things amuse me now. 

Congratulations to sis W and i! we're officially old, we got a fruit basket for christmas! Bro Marjanovich in our ward is super cool. He speaks Macedonian, so he has a greek accent and he said, "sisters! i have something for you!" (in a greek-like accent) and it was this massive fruit basket. See attached picture! haha

Another funny story- we were visiting this family and there's an old lady with alzheimers that live with them and she was so funny. Someone said "book of mormon" and she's like, "what?! the mooger norman?" hahaha and then she looked at my hand and said, "your nails are so tiny, they're beautiful!" she's awesome. 

Well, it's a pretty random letter this week...all over the place. But We did get an email today that says some GA's are coming to visit soon! to check out the mission. So...pres monson? sure! :)
Talk to ya soon!

sister messer

We finally got some pictures!

In Mississauga, Ontario

Hola! This week has been pretty good...Alright, let me see if i can answer all your questions! haha

How’s it going with your Macedonia friends?  We taught them yesterday. Sunday at Tim Horton's. it's the Starbucks of Canada. they are seriously on EVER CORNER! it's crazy. But our ward mission leader told us it was ok to go there on sunday. haha They bought us soup...i guess that's very European so whatever. But we brought Sis Radke with us who is a ward missionary. We didn't address her role very well and she ended up taking over a lot of the lesson. Plus, Gotes & Gordon were asking really weird questions like why aren't Dinosaurs in the bible. Ya, uhhh probably cuz it doesn't matter. So it got kind of out of hand and didn't go super well but they're just interested in everything and we'll see what happens.

Do you guys get the Ensign?  Dad and I guess that you do? Yes! we do...it's nice to read out of that during personal study sometimes

So, how does Canada not feel American?  Canada is so much different than the US. Sis W and I were talking about how much we both miss the US. We were looking at a picture of SLC on the back of an Ensign and practically drooling. There are no mountains here in Ontario...it's weird.

Do you two ever eat out?  Do you have dinner apts. Every night?  Do you ever fix your own dinners? Since we have an awesome ward, we get a lot of dinner apts. we also fix our own dinner sometimes or go out every once in awhile. There's a fast food place called Licks and its way good! I think it would be a hit in the US. It's basically a steak burger joint. You'll have to try it in about 16 months.

Did you get a new bedspread? yes, we went out on that 1st pday and i bought one for 15$ at walmart. it's purple dotted. just so nice.

What are you doing for Christmas? We have sac meeting at 9:30 and then we're chillin til about 2 and then were going to the radke's (a family in our ward) and they're letting us call from there. We just got an email from pres scott and we can skype if they have the hook ups  but idk if they do and i know it might be kind of sketch with our computer & the comp is in their living room where the party is at. so that probably won't work out. that way you won't see me cry either :)

Ok I'm glad people are reading my blog! so you're updating my blog & facebook with my latest letters and what not? sweet!

The police were stopping cars on the entrance to the freeway checking for drunk drivers. haha we rolled down our window and he saw our name tag and kind of snickered and let us through after asking if we had been drinking. haha it was funny.

Sister Wirthlin and Sister Messer

Not as funny as our tracting caroling experience. We were trying to make tracting a little more fun. Well, we were like, "it's the Christmas season! we'll just carol and hand them a joy to the world/lds.org card" ya...the 1st door we knocked on, all the lights were on so we started singing and no one came so we just walked away when were done singing. haha the 2nd door we waited until they were opening it and started singing. it was an older man and we were singing Joy To The world and he looked at us weird and said, "i'm busy." and shut the door! I said, "uhhh ok" and we were cut off and just walked away and laughed it off because that's what you gotta do! It was really funny though. we've been telling all our families and elders about it. we decided to go with a group next time.

Father, you taught me well. I carried on a good conversation with a non-member man who comes to our ESL (english second language class) about Baseball and Joey Votto. He even offered to take me and sis W to a Blue Jays game this summer. Holla. If that's totes allowed and i'm still in the area, i'm down!

I got a package from the barlows! they sent me their delicious cookies! i was excited :) the green ones are my fav! and a cmas card...it's fun to see pics from home! As far as your packages go...since we live like 20min from Brampton, where the mission office is, i heard they're going to play Santa this week and deliver packages. if not...i'll get them eventually! Sis W hasn't gotten any packages from home so she's quite anxious--we may drive down and get them ourselves ;)

 In front of Lake Ontario

We went tracting in a really nice area in Oakville. The people were all really nice too! and get this-i wasn't scared...haha but really, one guy was JW and he was like, "i really appreciate what you're doing! I went out when I was a young guy and knocked on doors. my parents are Jw but i'm not interested in anything right now." Sis w said, "thank you for being nice to us." hahah he laughed. But really, we ran into a lot of really nice people. It boosted my boldness a bit. Plus Sis W was totally scared and I felt like I had to be the senior comp for a second. Kind of like that one night when we were walking home from the leavitts in the dark and we heard something in the bushes and it was a skunk- mom you totally hid behind me. Sometimes i have to take one for the team.

I got the old cmas card you sent me mom! haha i laughed. Buzz, your girlfriend- woof! but for real.

Well, you also asked about my shoes and stuff- there's no snow here. the only time snow has stuck was sat night, when we woke up it was slightly all over the ground. but really, it's not that cold or snowy. So i don't even wear tights every day. my dansko shoes are comfy & i feel 7 ft tall. i haven't worn boots yet...and we might go shopping today, if so...i'll try out my debit card!

well family, i'll talk to you on Sundayyyyyyyyy!

sister messer

BE BOLD, SISTER MESSER! BE BOLD!!!

Hello Everyone!

This week has been pretty good. I miss you all!!! I can't believe i've been gone for over a month now though. 

Whoever thinks the MTC is remotely comparable to the field is crazy. I miss the MTC. haha It was so easy! I'm having a really hard time being BOLD. So i guess Pres. Batchelor knows what he's talking about when he repeatedly told me to "be bold". I'm really hoping that aspect gets a bit easier. We went tracting for the first time this week and I thought i was gonna throw up. Luckily i didn't...but i still don't like it. haha After a few doors it got a little bit easier but it's not effective. We've been working with members and less-actives more. Taking pres. Hinckley's advice that there is a smarter way! (when referring to tracting)...hopefully the members will trust us more and start to give us referrals. However, when it comes to tracting, i've found that i like that better than OYM (open your mouth) or street contacting.

We drove out to Lake Ontario and walked along a path along the lake. The view was amazing! I could see the U.S. from the distance and we both miss America. haha We could see the Toronto skyline miles down the shore and it was so cool! I hope I get to serve in the city after I get a little more accustomed to being BOLD. it was sooooooooo cold. The humidity makes a big difference. I can't tell it's humid and my hair doesn't curl weird but when it's cold, it's cold. We walked up to this lady who was staring at the sun and we were like, "hi, we're missionaries for..." and she was like, "I don't believe in organized religion, that people think other religions aren't good enough for other people" something along those lines...and then she said, "i'm actually talking to God right now, check out solarhealing.org" Soooo i guess she was worshipping the sun or something like that...and that is why I don't like walking up to people. 

We've had a few really odd experiences this week.

We did get a return apt from tracting this week and we drove to his house to meet him and was just walking out to walk his dog so we talked to him for a second and he wasn't interested at all. He's Roman Catholic and just didn't care much for what we had to say...BUT we didn't teach very well...being that Sis W gave the entire lesson in about 5 min and i just stood there...and so after that we were like uhhhh alright, we need to fix some things. We totally skipped a large portion of "how to begin teaching" when you get to know the person your teaching and she just started right into the lesson. So in the car we evaluated and practiced how we could've done that better and realized that we were put into that situation for practice because there's someone out there we're supposed to find that is prepared to receive the Gospel soon! and we're being prepared to teach them! Boom.

We had a zone christmas meeting this week with the entire zone. I have some pics i want to send. Hopefully i can buy the little device this week that allows me to do that.

Pres & Sis Scott showed up to our ward yesterday! I guess they go around the mission and attend different meetings but that was cool. it was a nice surprise. They're cool-pretty chill but strict at the same time. Sis Scott is super sweet & caring. She saw my deer in the headlights look at the mission office the day after getting here and she came over and was like, "how are you?" and i was like, "uhhh scared." haha but she assured me that it gets better & she was scared when they got here 3 months ago too. haha Hopefully I make it :)

We went cmas shopping last Pday at the biggest mall i've ever been to. It was insane & Sis W kept getting us lost...haha

Funny story- my district leader, elder fawcett, called sis Wirthlin on saturday night to express his "worry" for me because i'm quiet. I laughed. ya, i'm quiet...until you get to know me. I'm sorry I don't jump out of my seat and raise my hand in .05 seconds when you ask who wants to say the closing prayer :) I guess that just leads back to being BOLD!

I hear Allen Fabby got his call to NYC! oh my gosh! give him a high five for me! that's so sweet. NYC...that's so perfect for him.

We had a ward cmas party and had a few investigators come out. We're having a hard time just finding people who are interested cuz we're new and starting totally all over. Gotes & Gordon are meeting us tomorrow for an apt. AKA we're inviting them to get baptized...so hopefully that works out. haha they're funny guys.

Sis. wirthlin is from Farmington, UT. there are a lot of missionaries from UT. People think it's cool when I tell them i live by las vegas. haha She's a funny girl, we laugh a lot and get along well. We have a lot in common & are always on the same page. We'll seriously say the same thing a lot & while teaching have the same thoughts. unity. only the best.

It's sunny & 4*C today...that's something that takes some getting used to- celsius, meters, kilometers...it's weird. to figure out the temp in F you times the number by 2, multiply by 10% and add 36...i believe. haha well, i'm about to be kicked off the comp. maybe...i better send this to make sure you get it! love and miss you

sister messer

Our New Little Canadian Missionary!

Hello! 

My new address is:

(Leave a comment and Sister Messer's family will get it to you!)

Mississauga, ON

Canada

Alright, sooo i feel like i've been gone for a year already. Staying awake during personal study is a beast! Gah We live in Mississauga but it's actually outside of our area. our area is the Oakville area and it has Milton, oakville and part of mississauga in it...maybe. i'm still confused. it's big.

First night here we had a dinner apt that the elders set up. Elders have been living in our apt for like 10 years...that's a whole other story. haha It was with sister Radke. Her and her husband Slade are super sweet. She's pregnant and is having a rough time but made us dinner...plus they just moved so there were boxes everywhere. and her cat barfed on the carpet. haha Sister Wirthlin (yes, her great uncle is elder wirthlin) is allergic to cats so she was sneezing constantly. it was a good appointment. haha But we met the rest of our ward yesterday and it's a GREAT ward! We got invited to lunch at the Christensens house afterwards (the son, Aiden was baptized after the block and we had to fill the font) So we talked to members and ate lunch and she sent us home with a ton of food.

    The ward is ecstatic to have sister missionaries, we're "whitewashing" oakville which means we're both new to the area & know nothing. The only info we have is what the elders left us. OH! we were sitting in church yesterday and 2 guys in jeans walk in. after sac meeting we went up and talked to them- they're from Macedonia and learned about the church in New Jersey and moved to Canada 8 months ago, googled the nearest church and just showed up. Hallelujah. Its crazy! we're setting up an appt with them tonight. they're brothers and they have super thick accents (kind of like greek accents) their names are Gotse & Gordon.

   alright, next item of business...like i said, our area is very large. w/out a car would be impossible. When we're on the 401 going to Oakville i can see the CN tower in the distance! and lake ontario. I'm like say whaaaat! its pretty neat. The pic i sent of the tall towers i took on our way to the mississauga library (where i'm at now) It's a pretty city.

   The new District is pretty cool. there are 6 elders and us. 2 mandarin speaking elders, 2 spanish elders and another pair of english elders. We cover mississauga & oakville i believe. The houses in Oakville are absolutely beautiful! Theyre high-pitched roofs and brick and the architecture is just super pretty. They're unlike houses i've seen before & super duper schmancy. Lots of town houses as well. super classy area! Pretty wealthy area as well. the neighborhood I live in is really nice, not as fancy as oakville but a great apt for missionaries. The elders left a bunch of stuff...i'm currently using someones old bedspread...ya. that's changing today. For the toilet paper roller they screwed a piece of fabric in the wall and hung it on that. hahaha we laugh at it and continue to use it. There are a lot of tall appartment building where we have to buzz them from the bottom floor to get in. I've only seen that in movies. lol

    So like i told you on the phone, there were 15 missionaries that flew out to Toronto the same day as me. we all went to different places and I forgot to tell you! Sis Wirthlin, my trainer, has only been out 6 weeks. YA. 6 weeks! She's good though. Basically there are 2 newbies covering Oakville. president must see something in us. haha we'll see about that. Oh, crazy thing--elder bybee, i told you about him, we got out and Pres was like, oh, you're speaking farce (i dunno how to spell that but it's what people from iran speak) They don't teach it in the MTC.

    Flying into Toronto was crazy. we had to go through customs and immigration, it's SOOO racially diverse around here. Everyone has an accent and it's hard to understand them sometimes. We visited 2 older ladies my first night here, one was from jamaica & the other from Nigeria. See? everyone is just so diverse. haha then we had dinner with the Galletly's (who feed us a lot) and she's from China & he's from England and she cooks super delicious chinese food.

   Our district teaches an ESL class twice a week, maybe we can get Gotse & Gordon to come to that! haha but it's fun, it's an English as Second language class. mostly asian people come to it. Should be fun though.

 We have a cmas tree! it's so festive. haha The weather here hasn't been bad. the locals say it's really mild and will get worse but it's rainy a lot. It's snowed but hasn't stuck and it feels colder than 45 cuz of the humidity but its really not that bad!

   Flying into Detroit was really pretty. Michigan is beautiful! Super green and kinda swampy looking from the plane. It was quick, all 15 of us were rushing to meet our connection and the flight to Toronto after that was only like 45 min. tops. It was a tiny plane...i was just glad to get here.

   Sounds like everything is going good, can't wait to get your packages :) Hopefully the mail system will work well and I can get everything you send me!

That's about it...got lots to do today! ah!

love sis messer    

Sister Messer showing her future location in the MTC

                           Sister Shelby Bennet with Sister Messer.                                                                                                                   Shelby's from Logandale too & headed to Tulsa, OK

Outside the Provo Temple with companion, Sister Turvaville (to her left),
and roommates Stout and Palenokova

SHE MADE IT!!!

Sister Messer with Mission Pres. Brent Scott and Sister Scott at the mission home in Brampton, Ontario

Sister Messer with her new companion Sister Wirthlin

Sister Austriana Messer

Mississauga, ON

Canada

We haven't heard from Aus yet, but we were pleasantly surprised today with an email and pictures from her mission president!    We google-earthed Mississauga and it looks like a nice place right next to Toronto and Ontario Lake.