"Here comes trouble!"

Hello Everybody!

   Well, this week was pretty good. We found a couple new investigators  this week. One of them we found Oym and seems pretty good, One of them is on house arrest. End of story. And one of them came to church on Sunday! His name is Jacob, he's YSA age and has a very logical way of thinking. He's studied business and Law  at U of T. He's a funny guy. The missionaries were in charge of a fireside during the 3rd combined hour about Preach My Gospel, the role of members in teaching and finding through the members. He was present for all of it and still seemed interested to hear more! haha Afterwards we were asking him some questions about what he thought about church and he said, "Well, I didn't expect to be back on the path to God any time soon...but it may be sooner than I expected." So i think that means good things, eh? We're supposed to be meeting with him on Wednesday night, hopefully things go well! 

At the Temple

   We got to go to the temple on Saturday! We rode in with a some elders in the mission's classy mini van. haha We went to the 6:30 session so we had to get up super early! But it was a lot of fun to be back in Brampton! Most of the temple workers were from the Brampton ward and it was great to see them again, as well as other missionaries too. I saw Sis. Tuia! :) She's training Sis. Prescott (the one who read my blog before she came, and I took a picture with her so her mom can see her! she's great. and super lucky to be sister. tuia's comp!) 

Sister Prescott and me!

   Other great news is that I found out Anne & Amanda (both baptized in Kitchener/Waterloo) did baptisms at the temple on Friday! How sweet, eh?! Also that Kevin (we taught in Kitch YSA) who I said looked like Sid, is getting baptized! So many great things happening. 

   We had some funny experiences this week. A member is a bus driver for TTC and we were waiting at a stop for the bus and up he drives and honks twice when he sees us. We get on and he says, "here comes trouble!" If the people on the bus weren't staring at whoever he honked the bus at were staring at us now. Then we were walking down the aisle and someone on the side said, "oh, yup, trouble. " IT was our gospel principles teacher! Haha. If you need a grand entrance on a bus- that's how to do it. We had a good convo with a potential out of it. 

   We had lunch with a great mother/daughter in the ward yesterday. We claimed it as our Easter dinner cuz no one invited us over on Sunday. I had vegetable soup with cut up hot dog in it. hahaha yum! But the family is from Poland and are super great. She walked over to us while we were eating and all of a suddent started flicking water on our heads. We were like what in the...and she started laughing. Apparently in Poland it's a tradition for the boys to sprinkle water on the girls or pour buckets on them when they're not looking. It gets their Easter dresses all wet but symbolizes health and beauty for the year. I'm thinking of implementing that tradition forever. 

   We were walking down the road a few days ago and there was a lady sitting on a bench. Sis. Cross was on the phone but as we approached her one of her bags fell off the bench and I bent down and picked it up for her and started talking to her. Long story short, she had been baptized years ago and we helped her back home with her groceries and shared a message with her. She's not  on the ward list but hopefully we can get her back out!  

   Our pool of investigators is growing but we're having a hard time getting them to progress! This week will bring great things though. I just know it! We've got General Conference! holla! and Transfers!....Mom, you asked what I thought would happen- I think i'll die in Toronto. (missionary lingo) Fine with me! My international drivesr permit expired and they called to tell me what I had to do to update it but i called the office back and told them i'm in a bus area and only have 1 transfer left and he called back the next day and told me not to worry about it. Soooo not that i'm taking it as a hint...but ya never know!

   Last Pday we went exploring downtown some more. We were going to go to the zoo today but clouds came in and it's quite cold. The giant panda exhibit was enough to spring our curiousity. But last week we went to Dundas Square (the times squaure of Toronto) the Eaton Center (a huge mall, the biggest Sears i've ever seen) Nathan Phillips Sq. and the old Toronto City Hall.

Dundas Square in Toronto

Thanks for everything!

Love Sister Messer

Maria and Shaun are getting baptized this Sunday!

Hey Hey Hey Everyone!

   Well, I have good news! Remember Maria that I taught in London? She got baptized yesterday! Remember Shaun that I taught in London? He came to church the 1st time the last week i was there and had his coffee mug and cigarettes with him... he got baptized too! Sa--weeeet! It's always good to hear that news. We had a leadership training on Thursday with trainers/trainees/District leaders and zone leaders. I saw my zone leaders from London and they said, "guess what?! Maria and Shaun are getting baptized this Sunday!" It was great news!

   This week we've been trying to find people to teach! Story of my life :) We're still working with Garlyn. She's been sick this weekend so couldn't come to church but she's the most solid gator we have right now. We have an appt with a potential tonight that should be interesting. His name is William, he's an alter boy at a church nearby but is stoked to read the BOM. He used to be homeless but has a cute little appt that he is so proud of! It's really cool to hear people's story about their journey to God. Especially when they've overcome so much! We'll see how it all goes.

   Gma, I got your package! Thanks :) I also got a CAKE from the Carson's...so thank you! It's so great to get mail :) Just think...when I get home and see all those people that want to be my friends but never wrote me a letter....hahaha jk. I'll still love you. probably.

    This morning we had just woken up and we had our window cracked and heard someone talking to someone on the parking lot level outside so we looked outside and could hear someone groaning. There was a lady laying in the parking lot at the bottom of the stairs. You could tell she couldn't move her arm and couldn't get up very easily and the person talking to her was yelling through a window communicating with her and we heard her say, "i'll be right down." So we figured she was on her way to help but a couple minutes passed and still no one had shown up and she was trying to get off the ground and was crawling to a wall for support so we hurry and put our coats on and ran down in our Pj's. The lady couldn't move her arm and was in a lot of pain but was totally conscious and talking to us so we called the ambulance and she had dislocated her shoulder. So that was our excitement for the morning.

   Well, things are chuggin along. I forgot my camera cord so I can't send home any pictures! :( But I will sure try my hardest to remember it next week. Lo siento! Mom, you asked about Nemo...we have gotten snow this week but today it's the perfect day! The Torontonians say that it's been a bad winter towards the end here cuz it just keeps snowing. Spring is supposed to be here though, eh?!

Talk to ya'll soon! Have a grand week!

Sister Messer

This week has been a bit on the crazy side...

Hello Everybody!

   Well this week has been a bit on the crazy side. Our "solid" investigator Adriana totally got anti'd hard core. Pretty crazy stuff. But we just kept working hard and we got 2 media referalls this week. Yay! Both seem to be really great. The best part of the week was Garlyn. She was one of those referalls. She is from the Philippines and we taught her on Saturday. She's roman catholic but really interested in learning about the church. We arranged a ride for her to come to church Sunday and the member picking her up was there waiting for her but Garlyn was late so the member left and came to church. Garlyn called us and said, "i'm here waiting now." and We were like nooooooo. So i ran out into the foyer and in walked a member that we've gotten to know cuz he's a bus driver :) and i said, "Bro. Jardine, do you drive?! We have an investigator waiting at Eglinton Square who needs a ride to church...would that be too much to ask?" and he went and picked her and her friend up. Yay for great members! So Garlyn and her friend Ryan were at church yesterday. She LOVED it! She even wanted to stay afterwards for choir practice. (that means you'd like her, huh mom?)

   We're getting a bigger teaching pool too. Our investigators are probably the toughest i've taught my whole mission. They all love the Bible and want 'proof' from the Bible. They don't want to pray and ask specific questions but want to learn about the Gospel. It's made me have more serious personal studies in the morning. Things are going well though. We also picked up a mother and son that were former investigators. They're from Africa and are really great. We're excited to work with them more too.

   I was reading the mission's newsletter and guess what I found? If you go back and read my letters from like mid August you'll see I wrote some about an investigator sis. Tuia and I started teaching in Brampton- Shannon Leblanc. She got baptized last month! I was so happy when i saw that! It's cool to see how just a few months or when circumstances change they're finally ready to accept the Gospel. So many people are looking for the answers that the Gospel has but don't know that the Gospel can answer them! :)

   So, you've all asked if we went downtown last Pday. of course we did! It was everything I ever dreamed of! The next part of my email may sound like a bit of a travel log...but when you're in the best city in the world, of course you're going to explore on pdays! --

   So after email we took the Subway to Union Station. Toronto is known for their 28 kilometers of underground city. We discovered this quickly. When you get off the subways there are stores and restaurants all underground. Not only that but they connect to the buildings throughout Toronto as well. So we came up through the Fairmount Royal York Hotel (which by the way is the coolest old hotel i've ever seen.) We walked through the city until we found the CN Tower (holy tallness!) and Blue Jays Stadium is right next to it. We walked down to the harbour front that overlooks the Toronto islands and ate at a pizza place (mady, you were asking about Pizza pizza- they're all over the place.) Then I had read about the Flat Iron Building in NYC and I found out that Toronto had one as well and it was nearby so we walked to it. On our way there we walked through Maple Leafs Square (where the Leafs hockey plays). Pink was having a concert there that night so they were getting ready for that. We saw the Hockey Hall of Fame and went through different shops and tall buidings and what not. It was a lot of fun! I'm excited to show all of those places to you guys some day soon :) I'll attach pictures!

   You'll be interested to know that the Book of Mormon broadway play is coming to Toronto in April. We're hoping that will create some good publicity and finding opportunities :) haha

Well, thanks for keeping us in all of your prayers! We're being blessed as we strive to be more and more obedient every day! Talk to ya'll soon :)

The Blue Jays Stadium

Sis. Cross and Messer in front of the CN Tower in London

Flat iron building, which means it is really skinny!

Old London district

Sister Messer

I LOVE TORONTO!

Hey Everyone!

Toronto skyline mural

   Where do I start? My new comps name is Sister Cross. She is from the Seattle area. She was also a student at BYUI. She's been sick this week with a sinus infection which hasn't slowed us down much but it's a rough start for her! Hopefully she'll feel better soon! On Thursday we got to take a trip downtown for a doctor's appt. I love Toronto! So about my new area- there are 3 sets of missionaries in the ward. I didn't know this last week but on transfer day I showed up at the Brampton stk center to get the bag with keys/phone and the elder in charge said, "are you opening a new area?" Long story short, President didn't mention it over the phone but we are. They split the ward into 3rds and we cover Don Mills East! So we got a new phone with absolutely zero numbers in it, an area book that was totally empty and an old apartment that used to be the Korean elders. haha I met a sister missionary that just came in (There were 36 new missionaries that came in, 29 were sisters) who came up to me and said, "The day I left for the MTC i found your blog!" So shout out to Sis. Prescott (and her mom if she's still reading it. haha)

Toronto Stake Center-It's huge!!!

   About my new area- it's great. Our ward meets at the Toronto Stake Center and it's the biggest church i have ever seen. It's 3 floors, has an underground parking garage and it's made to be able to fit an entire stake there on Sunday. However, we're the only ward that meets there! haha It has the old Can-Tor east mission office and across the hallway from that is what we call 'narnia'. It's this huge room that the old mission used to store BOM's in every language, pamphlets in every language, pass along cards, movies, even old missionary clothing. It's got everything you could ever need so we get supplies out of Narnia. haha From a window in that room you can see the CN Tower perfectly. It's my wildest dream come true! haha SO ya, that church is crazy. Members have told us that it could be turned into a temple in the future. That may or may not be a myth. We are on bus/subway. The subway is really neat! They call it 'the rocket'. So you'll see advertisements that say "ride the rocket!" We're mainly on the bus though. This week we've been trying to figure out who's in our area and been learning how to get around. We've found a new investigator- Karthi. He's from India and is Hindu. I was able to use some tamil that sis. anushya taught me when we street contacted into him. He just laughed and answered in english but it totally broke the ice. haha

  A member in the ward just returned from his mission in Kennewick WA. So i remembered that E. Solomon and E. Maughan were serving there and I asked him about them. He told me exactly what they were up to and where they were serving. He was the AP in their mission- Elder Lim. Small world, eh?

  My new address-  

2 Swift Dr. #412

North York, ON

M4A 2A2

Canada

Mom, to answer your questions about the apt, we have lots of Korean material...and no, we cannot see the CN tower because of another building and some trees that are in the way but I see it as we walk around our area in the distance. I was hoping to be able to go downtown today but we have a lot of cleaning and shopping to do. Hopefully next week and if the weather is clear- the CN tower for sure!

  This are is really diverse and I guess i've gotten used to it over the past year. But i'm continually reminded as Sis. Cross is in amazement of all the different accents and people. haha It's great. Our ward is actually mainly Filipino, the bishop invited us over for Baloot (spelling?) there's no way i will ever eat that.

   Hope I updated you well enough :) have a great week!

Sister Messer

That's TORONTO!!!!

Skyline of London

Hello Everyone!

   Exciting news for transfers tomorrow! This is how the conversation with President Scott went when he called last night...

First of all, Sister De Groot answered and pushed the wrong button and hung up on him so we had to call him back. haha but he said, "Sister Messer, we'll start with you, i'm sure this is a big surprise for you but you'll be training a new missionary and you'll be serving in Don Mills East." That's TORONTO!!!!) He said, "it's the big city!" and i said, "President! You know i've wanted to serve there for a long time!" and he kinda laughed and said,  "i know." I'm so stoked. Nervous cuz that's a whole new rodeo but sooooo excited. It's bus..and maybe the subway as well. I'll know for sure tomorrow! Sister De Groot will also be training a new missionary and staying in London 2. The ward is getting another set of sisters as well! They split the area into East/West and all 4 of them are staying in our apt until the new one is available. haha

  This week has been AMAZING. We hit the standards of excellence! We picked up 4 new investigators this week and things are going really well with our investigators.
Lloyd is doing great. However, he got food poisoning from eating duck at a baby shower on saturday night so he missed church on sunday...so we had to move his date to march 17. I think that will be good for him though because he's been nervous about it happening too fast. This should give him a couple of weeks to get his foundation steady. He's progressing really well. He said at our lesson, "i'm going to this church forever." He commited to live the Word of Wisdom this week and when he text us telling us he was sick on Sunday morning he told us he was never eating duck again and he was drinking green tea (to help him feel better i guess)..I text him back and said, "You shouldn't drink green tea either, it's bad for you too!" and we don't think he understood that part of the WoW so he felt bad and said thanks for telling him. haha

   Shawn also came to church yesterday, Bom and a mug full of coffee in hand :) He's the most humble guy, he's so great. We're planning to teach him the Wow as well this week. haha At our lesson a few days ago he prayed for the 1st time in over 30 years! When we asked him how he felt he said "joyful". So i whipped open to Galations 5 and testified to him that that feeling is from the spirit and how that was God answering his prayers that what we're teaching him is true. It was sweet.

Celebrating Valentines Day?

   We also had Jamie come to church yesterday. She is 15 and we met her sister while street contacting a couple weeks ago. She told us she wasn't interested but that her sister might be and gave us Jamie's number. So we contacted Jamie on Saturday and she wanted to come out on Sunday. She really enjoyed YW's and sunday school class. She's going to mutual on Tuesday and and really wanted to attend the temple trip this saturday. The YW's adivsor told her what she's gotta do to go to the temple :)

Sister Messer would LOVE to answer any of them!

   This funny thing happened this week- on the bus this perhaps less accountable lady looked at sister de groot and said, "wow! You have the shiniest teeth i have ever seen!" It made a few people laugh on the bus. Great conversation starter. haha

   Well, hopefully my new trainee is as awesome as Sis. De Groot, we've had a fun, short transfer together. I'm excited to see what Toronto has in store! Miss and Love ya'll!

Sister Messer

30 new sisters coming in this Monday...should be interesting!

Hello Everyone!

   This week has been pretty good! We've definitely seen the blessings as we strive to be exactly obedient. I also found out the Anne Nicholls (remember her from Kitchener/Waterloo? We found her and committed her to be baptized?) Well, she was on Sunday! Awww, sometimes i REALLY miss that area :) But good things have been coming here too. We have 2 baptismal dates for March coming up. . . Transfers are a week from today...haha go figure! Lloyd came to church on Sunday and really enjoyed it. He's the one from Jamaica. He's great. He even sent us a picture of flowers on our phone for Valentines Day! haha We also got a new investigator named Shawn who seems pretty solid, hopefully things continue to progress with him. Yesterday we dropped by a less-active in the ward that we had been told would be hard to get into but when we walked up to the door she opened it smiling and invited us right in! haha We started talking to her 15 yr old daughter and she wants to know more about the Book of Mormon! So things are picking up! Remember the inactive sister in the wheelchair? We run into her all the time. We met her at the bus stop yesterday and she reached out for a big hug. Hopefully her heart will continue to soften!

   We were dropping by a potential investigator's house yesterday and for the 10 minutes that we were at the complex, two inactive women (the only 2 that live there) walked passed us. It's great to see the Lord continually put them in our paths! Even if we can't teach them, they're continually reminded of the church and the promises they've made!

   You'll like this story- at a dinner appt a few days ago we were eating with an older single sister in the ward and all of a sudden we smelled something burning and she jumped up and was running all around the room looking for something. I stood up from the chair getting ready to help look for it (wondering what the nearest escape route was) It was on the 8th floor and a few days before that a member told us that fireman's ladders only go up 7 floors...haha but anyways, she grabbed her cat and was looking at it's fur- sure enough. the cat had brushed up against a candle and caught on fire! hahah we had a good laugh about that after we left her apt. It was one of those cats with long, shaggy fur and it was all black on the stomach. haha classic!

   We're getting the buses figured out more and more. We've made good friends with one of the drivers named Joe that drives a specific route passing the church. We got on a few days ago and he said, "hey! I've missed you!" He's soooo gonna get baptized ;)

   We visited a member this week who fed us some Sudanese food. If someone is from Sudan are they Sudanese? I'm not sure...but it was good! We've done a lot of walking, a lot of talking and a lot of bus riding this week. The search continues in London, for another week at least. 30 new sisters coming in this Monday...should be interesting!

Love Sister Messer

London is great!

Hello Everybody!

Downtown London, Ontario

   Well, this week has been a pretty good one. We picked up Lloyd- a really cool investigator (with a baptismal date!) from Jamaica. It's been going really well with him, we're excited for him to come out to church this coming Sunday! Maria is struggling with commiting to baptism and the wheelchair lady you asked about- she's a less-active in the ward. We haven't been meeting with her anymore because of some issues she has but we ran into her on Thursday! haha you'd think she'd take it as a sign,eh? :) Other than that, we have been doing a lot of less-active work and finding. This transfer is going by so quickly! Only 2 weeks until transfers. Geeeez.

   Mom, you asked about the snow storm hitting us- we got the edge of it. Friday it snowed and snowed and snowed, all of our appts cancelled so we were outside all day! It made for some fun times. We trekked through the snow and I was really grateful for boots. I believe we were supposed to get 30cm of snow and we only got 10cm or so? But today it is raining and melting it away. Here's a cool story of the week-

   We were calling potential investigators that the elders had talked to a couple of months ago and we called Alisha. When she answered she told us she was going to Toronto for the weekend but to call back on 'this date'. So that day we called her and she said, "you guys totally freaked me out. I met elders a couple years ago and they gave me a Restoration Pamphlet but i didn't give them my phone number and this number is a new cell phone i just got." So she asked us what her name was again and we said, "alisha?" and she said, "oh, my name is Lisa!" So what had happened was whoever alisha is- Lisa got her old number and we contacted her. A few days before we called her the first time she had come across that Restoration pamphlet and read it. Then we called and she went to Toronto, thought about us the whole weekend and how we could have gotten her number and then she told us we could come teach her! So we made an appt, looked her address up on our map and she lived just outside of our boundaries. Ha. Go figure! So we passed it onto the elders and they haven't been able to meet with her yet. But I thought that was pretty cool! (Dad, that was the faith building experience you asked for.haha)

   We had our ward conference yesterday too! Our Stake Pres, Pres. Saunders, told us to say hi from them to our families- so hi from L2 stk presy!

   Well, this week will be a good one! Thanks for the prayers and everything! It's helped us in our quest to figure out the buses for sure! haha Except last night when we had to wait at the bus stops for like...2 hours. no biggie. London is great!

Love,

Sister Messer

Guess what?! AMANDA got baptized!

Hey everyone!

Look!  Someone passed up a life-changing opportunity!  Poor little pass a long card!

Caught in the rain!

Us with cute Celeste 

Maria's on the right

Amanda's baptism (Sister Casner sent me this)

   Guess what?! AMANDA got baptized! Remember her? We worked with her my whole transfer in Kitchener/Waterloo and we set her for the 3rd right before i left. It KILLS not being able to stay in an area long enough to see the people you teach get baptized :( I've been moving so frequently now that it's hard to whitewash, get things rolling and see a baptism in one transfer. Aw well. I'm super excited she got baptized! Just wish i could've been there. Story of my life! It's ok, i was reading in Alma 29 today when he's talking about how he wishes he were an angel so he could declare the gospel to everyone with the trump of God and when he sees his brethren come unto the Lord he's filled with joy because he was an instrument in His hands in helping some soul to repentance. It does bring a lot of joy, the icing on the cake is being there for the baptism. But in the long run it doesn't matter...GOOD NEWS of the week: We've been working a lot with Maria and she's getting so close to baptism! She's now living the Word of Wisdom and is the cutest lady i've taught. Her and her son, James are a hoot. They've been so faithful coming out to church and they're starting to get fellowshipped better. Keep her in your prayers! She is so close.

   We've been getting the buses down. It's been really cold the past couple of weeks and a few days ago it poured and melted all the snow and we were walking in our down coats and got absolutely soaked. It was one of those classic moments when the car drives past you and splashes into a big puddle. It made for some good laughs. We still had no idea which bus came by and we were standing there trying to figure it out and one started to come out of the distance so we ran to the stop and the driver stopped and all we said was, "we don't know what we're doing!" and he just laughed and said, "get in." and he drove us to the stop we really needed to be at. The driver and the one other man that was on the bus had both talked to elders in the area before and so we told them how we were new in town. It's cool how many people you meet that have either talked to missionaries before or have had friends that were members etc.

   There's a young women in the ward that has brain cancer and she's supposed to pass away any day now. Her mom lives in a different town but has come to stay with her for the past week or so. She invited us to come see her on Tuesday so we went over and talked to her and what not. Her name is Celeste Templeman. She has a facebook page you all should check out.

   Last night we treked all over southwest london looking for a referral we received from a member. After finding the family (we have an appt this week!) We decided to start walking back until we saw a bus. We were only about a 3 min. bus ride away from our apt when we saw the bus come so we got on thinking we'd get off at the bottom of the hill. Well, a few minutes later we realized we were on a different route than we thought. It still took us to where we needed to go but 1.5 hrs later. haha we rode the bus all over London and talked to people who got on and off. Quite the night. Sometimes we think we know what we're doing only to find out that we don't. Sister De Groot also dropped her wallet on the bus a few days ago. We found it on the same bus an hour later but no one had stolen it! haha

   So all is well, we're trying to work with the gators we've found and we had a couple of less-active members come out to church yesterday! That was exciting. The ward is great, still trying to get to know all the members and what not.

Talk to ya soon!

Sister Messer

Sister De Groot and I made it safely to LONDON!

Hey Everyone!

    Sister De Groot and I made it safely to LONDON! Figuring out the buses has been super interesting. Still not even close to knowing what we're doing but it sure has been fun. We have a super cool story from it and i'll make sure to tell ya soon! But first i must tell you about my 3rd child- Sister De Groot. She's from  UT, she's only 20 and is my most favorite companion i've had thus far. (she's reading over my shoulder) but i wouldn't be completely lying if i really said that. She's pretty awesome, super duper funny. We have a blast. Best moment of the week was when we were waiting for the crosswalk to turn and the bus was coming on the other side of the road. It was 8:45 and the buses only come once an hour by that time. so it was do or die. She started pointing at us and the bus and we're yelling 'we want. your bus!' the driver saw us, waited and we ran through the snow and caught it. bless that bus driver. he'll be rewarded in the eternities.

   Just the other morning we had an early appt and we were at the bus stop waiting and then found out because it was saturday the bus still had over 30min til it was coming so we decided to go put more socks on and walk to the appt. We ended up getting a couple of calls while getting more socks and so we decided to catch the bus after all. While waiting a lady in a wheelchair drove up and we started talking to her. Rewind a few days, we were dropping by some less actives in the area and one had no address and so we were like well, we'll just tract and find her cuz we did know the complex she lived in but no one had seen her for years. That night didn't go as planned and we ran out of time to tract. But as we talked to that lady we found out that it was HER! As we talked to her she expressed how she had left the church and what not and had a bad experience with some missionaries in the past but after talking to her she said 'well if it was the 2 of you that came over i wouldn't mind'. we're going over tonight! pretty sweet, eh? it's cool to see the Lord's timing.

   So we are re-opening this area. it's been closed for almost a full transfer. We've been really blessed this week with some new investigators and members that are willing to drive us places and feed us. it's been great! The ward is really excited to have sisters and that's always great!

Sister Messer and De Groot

Loving riding the bus

Poor little pass along card!  Someone must have accidentally dropped it!

   new address- It's high rise condos. it's right by a river but it's been real snowy and cold this week. perfect week to be out walking again! haha

  We're in the ward with chinese elders as well. wow i'm not sure what to tell you. so much new stuff.  oh! i forgot to mention- sister wester is also training this transfer. there were 12 sisters i think that came out this transfer. We had interviews with President a couple of days ago. He thanked me for being 'a rock' and then basically told me i'm training again next transfer as well as sister de groot so i'll be moving again.  yayyyy. Saying goodbye to kitchener was sad. seriously bummed. but we had an amazing week, hit standards and everything so it was fantastic! I called our gators and told them goodbye and Ann ( the 75 yr old) was sad and she said, 'well it's a good thing i decided to be baptized before you left, eh?' i'm so bummed i'll miss it! we had it set up to have a baptism every week of feb in KW...hopefully they'll still go down!

   well my dearest people, thanks for the prayers, it's been a great week! it's supposed to warm up this week as well. that's just swell!

love sister messer

  

"I understand why you invited me to be baptized so soon, it's the beginning of learning...not the end."

Amanda, Louie, Sister Casner & Sister Messer

Sister Messer looking fashionable in her sneakers

Hey Everyone!

 Well, transfer calls came quick last night and i'm super stoked...and super nervous! haha Sister Casner is staying in KW ward. I've been transfered to London, opening a new area, training and it's a BUS area! Public transportation say what? That'll bring me even more out of my comfort zone and help me to develop all sorts of new skills! So i'm really excited. Should be interesting, that's for sure!

   This week has been absolutely amazing! Sister Casner and I hit the standards of excellence set for our mission :) We had 3 investigators at church & 4 baptismal dates. Other key indicators you probably don't care much about but we've been so blessed and I was bummed to leave the ward! This ward is so great! Amanda called us on Thursday and said she had decided she wanted to be baptized! She's set for Feb. 3. Her and her fiance came to church yesterday and it was greeeeaaat! We're teaching them together this week. err i mean, sister casner will be teaching them this week. Ann, our other gator, came to church also. She's the one who lives with a member, is 75 and from Tennessee. We invited her to be baptized and she said she'd pray about it. Turns out the lesson in RS was about baptism and confirmation and it helped out a lot! Afterwards she said, "I understand why you invited me to be baptized so soon, it's the beginning of learning...not the end." The older members in the ward are amazed that she's come out to church cuz in the past she's been so close  minded about it all. Great things are happening! We also picked up 5 new gators this week. holla! One of them, Ken, his mom was a member and had 22 children. wow.

   We had a neat experience Sunday morning when we were doing our studies before church. It was snowing pretty heavy and we knew that Anne and her roommate have a hard time getting out when the weather is bad. So we prayed that the snow would stop so they could feel well and make it to church. We waited a few minutes and the sun came out, we gave them a call and they both said, "we're ready to go!" It was an awesome Sunday.

   Let's see, Viola not only has pneumonia but also Strep now...so that's made it hard for us to meet with her and really hard for her to come out to church but we re-set her with a bapt. date to work towards.

   This transfer has been one full of service. We've really tried to just go about doing good. It's produced so many blessings! The members are really trusting us it's been great.

Our Kitchener Ward District!

Have a wonderful week!

Love Sister Messer