"You build it, we'll come!" and I said, "Deal."

Joseph's baptism!

old kitchen

new kitchen!

Hey everyone!

Well, looks as though moving Mady to provo was a success! her dorm looks really cute. Not gonna lie, made me excited to go back to school next Fall! 

Joseph's baptism was last night! It was soooo great! His daughter came and had a really emotional time! She's 21, wasn't interested really but we talked to her quite a bit and hopefully we'll be able to meet up with her soon :) There was great support from the ward and he's such a cool guy! We're so excited for him! Sister Scott's mom is visiting so she also came, along with Pres and Sis scott's son. So that was neat too. When they were leaving i said, "thanks for coming!" and President kinda laughed and said, "you build it, we'll come!" and i said deal.

Bibi and Avi both were confirmed yesterday too! And Zarah got a baby blessing. Phonetically spelled Bee-Bee and A-vee and Za-ruh. Good peeps.

What are the food stores here like? ummm basically the same as U.S. but more international sections and in Brampton- YES, lots of indian food in that section. But walmarts are exactly the same, produce is basically the same. Cheese and milk are a lot different. Not in taste but how they sell it. Milk is in liter bags (sooo annoying) and cheese is really long and skinny. like a shoe box lid. i do not know why.

Subhash recieved the priesthood last week and  he did baptisms for the dead this week! He loved it.

OH! every week we volunteer at the salvation army garden and we were in the newspaper! Bramptonguardian.com i think. it's called the brampton guardian. It was only online, not in print, but i saw the article and i'm in a picture! good luck finding it.

Funny story of the week, we taught subhash some follow up lessons on Wednesday night and he was sitting on the church steps waiting for us and we walked up to him and he had his hands up to his face and we noticed a ctr ring on his pinky finger- we said, "hey! check you out- that's pretty sweet" It was a green primary kids ctr ring. He said, "oh these?!" and he had one on each pinky finger and they were upside down. hahaha we started laughing and he was like, "what? what?" who wears ctr ring on 2 pinky fingers? haha we tried to resize them but he wouldn't let us-saying they'd ruin the figure of them.

We had a ward picnic this week! It was fun, we got some potential investigators, had a bbq and talked to lots of people. It reminded me of the L2 ward corn roast. Which sounds like it was a success in itself.

ward activity...

Other than that...we've been struggling to find new investigators. All of our gators are being baptized and we haven't re-filled the gator pool! not good! This week we'll be really focusing on that. But things have been great. Pretty hot week but today is a rainy day in Toronto.

Love and miss ya

Sister Messer

i decided to talk to all of them at the same time. (mistake.)

Bibi and Avi's baptism yesterday :) It went great! 

Hey!

This week was a good one. It's always great to end it with a baptism! Bibi and Avi were baptized and it was great! They were both very excited and we had a lot of support from the ward and President and Sis Scott came too. Subhash was up in the middle of it all! He went and bough a bunch of indian food, when i asked him about buying food on Sunday he said, "i didn't pay for it! I just picked up and told them i'd come tomorrow and pay for it." haha is that cheating? He's so funny. He helped in the kitchen and stayed and helped clean up too. He also recieved the aaronic priesthood today! He was so happy. He's planning on going to the temple to do baptisms this week. We aren't allowed to go with him but some awesome members are going to help him out.

You're wondering about Mo? Well we did see him a few days ago. He was riding his bike around the church. Right after he was baptized, the place he's working at gave him a full time job (including sundays!) So he works Sundays for the summer but should be coming back soon. That's what always seems to happen, eh? He's doing pretty good though i think.

I did hear about that shooting at the sikh temple. It hasn't hindered our teaching at all. We never teach sikh people anyways. They're never interested.

So there's a new office couple- the Caldwells. So we're getting to know them since we visit once a week. Well, last week i found out she's an interior design teacher at LDSBC! Cool, eh? So we started talking design and i've realized how hard it will be to go back and try to remember all the software programs! haha uh oh. She said a lot of the teachers at BYUI are retiring this year :( sad day!

We had one of the most awkward street contacts this week. We found a pretty good spot in part of our area at an intersection. There's a bus stop on each corner so we were walking around. The buses come often so there's usually a good # of people. However, it's kind of difficult (i think) to talk to an entire group of people cuz they're all standing really close to each other. So you can either pull one person out and focus on them, but that's awkward too. Or i decided to talk to all of them at the same time. (mistake.) A couple of people turned and looked and turned away, a couple other people didn't even look in the 1st place and a few others just stared and talked on thier phone. So after introducing ourselves and saying a few other things there was no response whatsoever...so i just said, "no takers? alright...well have a great day!" it made for quite a journal moment.

We had a zone training meeting in Weston this week. Drove down to Toronto and met with all the missionaries in our zone. (about 25 or so) We practiced teaching and learned some good stuff.

So that about covers everything I believe. have fun taking mady to college! A few missionaries left a transfer early to be able to attend this semester at BYU. Just remember mady, nothing good comes out of a date with an RM. ok? :)

miss and love you all

Sister Messer

All you can do is testify

Hey everyone!

Well this week has been a busy one full of adventure. Now that we took over the elders area, we have like three times the area...we've been looking for good places to street contact and all that good stuff. Good thing is now we get to meet the entire ward! We have a lot more dinner appts (which means we don't have to pack dinner and eat it at the church! haha) and it's been great to talk to all the families I only met in passing at church. This ward is pretty sweet. We also met and taught a few investigators the elders left for us. I don't know if sisters are just smarter when approaching people or if it was just luck (I prefer to think it's the first suggestion) but I was involved in the first real bash of the mission. The elders had met this lady in this sketch appt building and taught her the restoration. When we went back she had this big thing typed up where she had researched and all this stupid stuff she was saying. All you can do is testify, eh? She wasn't mean, thankfully, but just kept asking stupid question after question. I was like, for real? Can we leave now? So we finally get out of the place and we're waiting at an elevator and we can hear her talking to her kids and walking down the hallway. haha we were like ohhh no cuz the last thing we wanted want is to get stuck in the elevator with her. We could hear her getting closer and closer and sis tuia and i are busting up- we were like oh my gosh, this would be our luck! i'm pressing the button like a million times a minute and finally it opens. We hop inside and push the door close button- we made it! haha

We had some great gators at church yesterday and have been teaching Bibi and her daughter Avi (who are set for baptism this coming sunday!) Joseph, who i told you about last week, is set for the week after that (26th) and Nadine too! So all is well and things seem to be going great for all of them. Thanks for the prayers on your side! I know they help for sure! We set a new date for Gay and Clint- we taught the WoW to them last night and they're so determined about it--they'll definitely need your prayers! We brought Subhash with us to teach them because when he bore his testimony last fast sunday it really made Gay want to baptized too. He was soooooo good! This man is gonna be the next prophet, no doubt. Gay & Clint's sister, Navene, is going through a rough time with a divorce and what not so he was talking to her and she had a super cool spiritual experience and just started crying! She said he heart felt like it was attached to a bunjee chord. She, out of the 3 of them, won't commit to be baptized, so we hope as she sees her siblings change and continues to experience these things that she too will want to change.

The coolest things happened a few nights ago- Sis Tuia sleep talking woke me up- she was teaching a full Word of Wisdom discussion. hahaha yes.

Hmm, let's see...i think that's about it. This week we'll be working hard with Bibi & Avi's baptism on Sunday, helping the trio (that's what we call gay/clint/navene) stop smoking and keeping in touch with all of our investigators helping them to progress!

Miss and love you all

Sister Messer

August 9th: Sister Messer's half way point!

some of our district by the temple last pday while saying our goodbyes

Hey everyone! happy anniversary mom and dad!
Well, it's been a pretty sweet and a crazy week so far. A huge transfer took place Tuesday. 71 out of the 91 companionships were transferred, so we played taxi drivers to some spanish sisters serving in toronto. I didn't know we lived so close to downtown. in a 25 minute drive you could actually make out the colors of the CN tower! You could see it from their balcony- totes jealous! But the stake center was a hoppin place. Subhash came and sat there and watched all the missionaries walk around in a hustle and everything. He was giving a few of us some wise advice- he's the best at that! haha This time it was about jobs and marriage- both things i don't have to worry about for at least 9 more months. (hump day tomorrow- say what?!) For us though we did take control of the entire brampton 1st ward! The elders got transferred out and so it's just us now. We have a really young mission. (straight from pres scott's mouth) One of our zone leaders and our district leader came out with me! We're the oldest missionaries in our district- can you believe that? minus one spanish elder that came out 2 months before me. crazy, eh?

sister tuia got a huge box of food from her aunt that lives in vegas.

sister hurst and me

Sister tuia, subhash, my fav elder silva and me! elder silva and i have been in the same district since forever! only 1 transfer that we weren't. he's the coolest kid everrr.

Subhash's confirmation went really well! Church this week was too. We had 4 gators show up and it was testimony meeting. in RS gaye said, "i want to bear my testimony too but not until i'm a member!" hahaha we set a date for the 26th but she has WoW stuff to change up. We have a solid date with Joseph for the 26th! He is a friend of a great member family. he was taught all the lessons about a year ago but has been traveling in the US for work a ton. but now he's finally ready and we're stoked he's getting baptize don the 26th! Also we're still working with nadine for the 26th and the elders had an investigator, Bibi that was turned over to us and her daughter which seem pretty solid too! so that's 5 dates for august. wow, eh? pray for them!

So it was fun to get a package from home on Sunday! april roberts walked up to me and said, "this is from your mom." and i didn't recognize her! i was like, "wait, who are you?!" and she inroduced herself and then just quickly walked away. I went up to them a few minutes later and they said they were just here on vacation. I recognized her name though! I guess since i'd been going to YSA and BYUI before leaving i never really got to know her. It was fun though! she introduced herself in RS and i was able to tell everyone she was from my homeward. You can imagine the ooh and ahhs from all the old ladies :)

quick question, is there an efy 2012 cd? if so, you should send me it! :)

So, the work is going well! The new district is cool, we have some pretty promising baptismal dates and the weather hasn't been totally unbearable!  I can't believe it's august already- i got my call a year ago! have a good week!

sister messer

Happy Day!

Sis. Tuia, Sis. Messer, Subhash and Elder Stark, who baptized him

Hey everyone!

President & Sister Scott

So, Subhash did get baptized last night! It was basically the best baptism everrrrr. Great support from the ward, too! Subhash brought a bunch of indian food and we had a feast afterwards. President and Sis Scott were both able to come and a bunch of the elders in our district who were able to bring some investigators. He bore an awesome testimony after he was baptized! Elder Rodee, in our district leaned forward and whispered, "you guys just baptized a quorum of the 70." haha it's true though! He's so awesome! Actually, all of Sunday was pretty legit. We had 5 investigators at church! RS and PH was combined the last hour and guess what the topic was? It was the stake's Reach Out and Rescue Plan- we were terrified! They started talking about non-members coming to church, dealing with less-actives and all that jazz. So basically our investigators were sitting in the lesson hearing about how members need to fellowship non members when they come to church and to be notified to fellowship before hand- we were like...uh, why are they talking about this? and one of our investigators- Gay, turned around and said, "you two are in trouble!" (she's sooo funny, we love her) but then it turned into the investigators telling the members how it works! haha It was a miracle! i was praying the whole time that the spirit would filter anything that may hinder their progress. Gay turned around and started to tell us how we did a good job making her feel welcome and excited about church so i said, "tell them that!" so she raised her hand and the teacher brought her to the front and she was able to tell everyone how excited she was to come to church and how everything we've been teaching her makes her happy and then subhash walked up and said, "those two taught me the same thing!" Gay was like, "now i'm stuck! I'm always coming!" hahaha Everyone was like, yaaaa! So things worked out perfectly and it ended up being a great way for the gators to get involved after all!

Our investigators are doing well. Gay, who i just talked about- we met her brother, Clint (who also came out yesterday!) while playing a bible game along the street. We stopped by to see if he was home and they were outside doing yard work so we helped gay and her sister nav in their garden. One thing lead to another and now we're all bff's. We're getting to share the gospel with all 3 of them! The cool thing is, we met Gay's son outside too and he's like, "now you guys are showing up at my house too? Oh wait, are you the ones who helped in our garden?" We had met him last transfer and he gave his # only to tell us later that he wasn't interested. So we've met all of their family in 3 different ways. Coincidence? they don't think so :)

Nadine is doing great! She was also present in that wonderful lesson at church. We're meeting her tonight. She's working towards baptism this August!

Guess what i tried for the 1st time this week? Sushi! Our district went for sushi after district meeting on wednesday- it was way good! mady, didn't you say you tried it in vegas? well, i'll take all of you next summer. haha

That's so cool about meeting with dad's half brothers and cousin. Who knew that my great gma was just like me! Man, she must have been pretty cool ;) I met a bunch of people from the 7th day adventist faith here in brampton.  So do dad and his brothers look alike? i'm sure dad's more handsome and charming too, of course.

This boy is hilarious!  We call him Papa

Your SF trip sounds like a classic! The youth in my ward just went to Nauvoo this week! They took a bus down for 2 days, saw the pageant and all. I told Sis Solomon if they'd done that last year i could have met them! haha I've been thinking about that trip this week- i can't believe that was an entire year ago! good times. I'm looking fwd to getting my giants shirt :)

Alright, well it sounds like things are going well! We're still chuggin along. Looking fwd to subhash's confirmation on sunday! talk to ya soon!!! love and miss ya

sister messer

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors....What?!!!

Hey everyone!

attached are pictures of this week. We had some odd plumbing issues i let sister Tuia handle...and these 2 sikh guys are at the church every day. The one is reading a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet in Hindi :)

Well, this week has been a good one. We've been teaching Subhash a lot and he's doing so well! There were 2 baptisms last night- one from the elders in our ward and from the Heart Lake ward and he stayed for both! haha He met President Scott and talked to the RS president about food for after his baptism. After asking for permission to walk up and stand next to the font for the second one, he got up looked at us and put 2 thumbs up in the air! haha we just laughed. He's so ready and really excited for NEXT sunday at 5pm! holla! We had the funniest thing happen while teaching him the 10 commandments a few days ago. He was reading them out of Exodus and he got to "thou shalt not covet thy neighbors ass" and he paused and said, "oh my gosh....am i allowed to say that?!" Sis Tuia and i looked at each other and busted up. In his indian accent it was priceless. We assured him that it meant donkey and he was ok with it after that. But thinking about it how he initially thought it meant made me laugh even harder. He's awesome. Last monday he and his wife came over for dinner at the Bishops house. He has an amazing relationship with Bishop Solomon and his wife :)

This week we picked up a few new investigators. One being a lady named Nadine from Jamaica. The spanish elders found her about 2 months ago and we've been in contact w/her, inviting her out to church. 4 weeks ago, she came out and luckily sat right in front of us, since i didn't recognize her-after sacrament meeting i leaned forward and introduced myself and found out it was her! she had come! Well, 2 weeks later she came again (that was last week) and we taught her this week. She's gotten a lot more comfortable and fun to teach. We're seeing her tonight! She ran into her fellowshipper on the bus a few days ago and was asking her about baptism :) She even missed her stop (on purpose!) to continue to talk with the member!

We also started to work with Kira. Last week we were the elders at the church and they got a phone call from a Less active member who had just moved back into our ward boundaries. Luckily she lived on the North side which is our territory so we've gone over a couple of times to see her. While we were there on Saturday, her friend who lives upstairs (brampton is all about basement apartments...) and offered us some snacks and asked if she could sit in on our lesson. Well, she sat in while the elders a few years ago taught the less active member and she knows quite a bit. We're excited to try and continue to meet and teach the both of them together. Other than that, the other investigators we have are off and on. We had some good lessons with some this week but they haven't been answering calls. typical...

So it's been a good week. Pretty warm and humid but cooled off mid week making it a little less sweaty.  Sis Tuia and I are having a lot of fun. It probably helps that Subhash is such a golden investigator- we're excited for his baptism on Sunday! 

Love Sister Messer

Totes presh

Hey everyone!

Sister Messer and Sister Tuia

See her awesome tan line?

Their living room

Their kitchen

Sister Tuia teaching Sister Messer Samoan hair decorating

Well, this week has been pretty great. Last monday I got that picture and email you sent the office on my bday! haha We had interviews at the church but sister sippel printed off the picture of you guys at girls camp with the email you sent with it and gave it to me. Totes presh. That night we had dinner with the temple president and his wife. They're awesome. He was the AP to Pres. Monson when he served as mission president here. In fact, he showed us a picture in Pres. Monson's autobiography and it shows him in it! If you wanna search for it, it's on a page of pictures that also shows the old mission home in Ossington (downtown toronto) and Pres Monsons family too on the same pages.

I forgot to tell you about my new district at transfers. And now the transfer is 1/2 over! crazy. Well, Elder Rogers is in it! He serves in brampton ward too. He's from Vegas and we were in the same mtc district! So that's fun.

Samantha didn't get baptized yesterday. This week we've been trying to resolve her concerns a lot. Right now she still likes her old church because she has friends there and it seems more like 'home'. so we're working with the families in the ward to try and fellowship her more. I know if she felt like this ward was her home that she would love to be baptized.

Subhash is doing amazingly! We've met with him a few times this week and is progressing super quickly. He's really intelligent (retired physics/electronics professor) so he soaks it all in. He wanted to meet with us, Bishop Solomon and his wife, and the Starks (fellowshippers) yesterday after church. He had brought everyone flowers and expressed his deep gratitude for everything. It was a cool experience- He's been so prepared! Sis Tuia and I were like, "what did we ever do to deserve such an awesome investigator?!" Really though, we feel so blessed and love him to death! He brought his wife to church yesterday, too! her first time at a christian church- she's great. She's not as open as subhash but with time, who knows! The Starks invited us to lunch after church with subhash and his wife and it was a great time too.We're working towards the 29th for his baptism and he's already prepared...we can't wait!

We had a cool experience yesterday with an investigator named Parm. Sis anushy and I gave him a church tour last month and a few weeks ago sis T and i called him and taught him briefly. He told us that he has finals and is busy but is done on the 15th and if we're supposed to meet things will work out. WELL, last night we were walking around brampton and here he comes riding past on a bike! I was like, Parm! you know what this means! hahaha it was sooo meant to be. He laughed and kind of made up an excuse but we hope he really does think about it and realize we didn't run into each other in coincidence! haha

as for michael, his mom had a heart attack and he had to go to Calgary. We've been in contact through text but when he gets back, hopefully we can meet.

So things are keeping us pretty busy. Sounds like you are all doing well too. We were also listening to the nauvoo pageant cd in the car! haha i love torturing my companions with it. I guess it just doesn't have the same sentimental value to them :)

Have a wonderful week, i think you're pretty awesome too!

Love Sister Messer

(Oops! Forgot to post this for 7/3/12!) A NEW COMPANION

Sister Messer with first companion, Sis. Wirthlin and new companion, Sis. Tuia

Hey everyone!

Well, this week has been full of finding. Sister Tuia and I have been coming up with new finding ideas, trying to coorelate them and talking to everyone. We get along really well and we're super stoked to work together. Well, that's coming from me- if you asked her she may disagree ;) She's from Samoa, her dad is a stake president there, she's taught me how to do samoan dances and this is her 7th week in the field. She came pre-trained though, she's awesome. I'll attach some pictures!

Yup, yesterday was Canada Day. It's to celebrate their freedom, i guess. We sang Oh Canada in sacrament meeting- that was fun. Probably won't ever get to sing Oh Canada on Canada Day in sac meeting ever again in my life! haha

Yay, it IS my birthday on Friday! We planned to go out to lunch or something but we just got an email telling us we have interviews with President Scott. So that will be a good way to celebrate too, i suppose! I've gotten some packages from Gma/Gpa, Leavitts, Tar/Jenn and you guys! i'm waiting to open them on my bday, of course! THANKS!

I got a letter from Gma with some chapparel in it! it smells like desert rain! It was so cool to smell it, it made me think of walks around the reservoir! It looks like it's gonna rain here today- perfect for the picnic we've planned to have with our district.

With our district at the mission office

This week we stopped by our Bishops house and his wife said, "i'm translating the Doctrine & Covenants into tamil right now! Do you want to see?" she showed us her computer and all the notes and writings she's made. it was really neat- it was like behind the scenes joseph smith action goin on! She said it will be printed in about 6-8 months or so.

Well, I was reading about Abish in alma today and I love that she was just a servant...alas because of her boldness in sharing the gospel she was able to help with the conversion of thousands of lamanites- along with the testimonies of other people. She's the woman! It helps me to open my mouth and talk to everyone because you never know who you come in contact with if they're prepared to hear the gospel.

have a great week! love and miss ya'll

Sister Messer

8 MONTH ANNIVERSARY!

Hey everyone!

Well this week was basically amazing. Great week to celebrate turning 22! First things first, you want to know about my birthday:

it was really hot but good. Thanks for all the bday packages! I love everything you sent! all of you! gracias! We had interviews with President Scott and it was wonderful! I was walking down the hall for my interview and him and Sis. Scott approached me and said, "we saw it was your bday this morning! Happy Birthday!" and then Pres asked if the district had sang happy bday to me (ofcourse they hadn't, a bunch of elders- they had no idea.) and So he was like, "well there's no time like the present!" so he made the district sing happy bday and  then we carried on with our interview. He said he is really excited for sis Tuia and I to work together and that he wanted to get us together. I told him I had seen her picture in the office before she got here and I had thought we were going to be companions her 1st transfer. He sat back and said Really? and i was like yaaa! and he's like, "well I wanted to! but things just didn't work out with everything." but he's really excited to have us together and I LOVE being her companion! We have so much fun and work hard. We've seen some amazing miracles this week and i'm excited to tell you all about it!

Meet Subhash- 65 years old, from India, retired professor of electronics, hindu background. We met him street contacting near the church. We've taught him 3 times this week and he's planning to be baptized July 29!! He's absolutely, incredibly prepared. I don't even know where to start. He comes right out with his concerns so he is easy to teach and really cooperative and excited about everything! He calls us like twice a day-last night he called and said he LOVED church. He said, "it's like a kid's first day of school!" He was so excited and met some really awesome members. He just called us like 5 min ago because he wanted to show his grandaughter around the church. His family should come around in the future, too. He even brought us flowers as a thank-you, showed up 30min. early to church and we're meeting him again tomorrow. He's got some great fellowshippers and is building upon a GREAT foundation. pinch me, i'm dreaming.

Meet Michael- White, canadian, 40s, former professional lacrosse player. Met him street contacting...he had just been feeding the ducks at the pond across the street and didn't have a shirt on-i was apprehensive to contact him but thanks to Sis Tuia's bravness, we did! He wants to change...he's very unhappy and last night we met him at the park and taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ 5pts. He got really excited and found some hope for his life! He wants to be baptized on august 5! He yelled, "you guys have to come to my baptism!!!" haha so he really wants it! We're excited to help him quit some bad habits and we hope he has the strength to make it throught.

Samantha's baptism is this coming Sunday. She's got some concerns that we need to figure out this week. She is doing really well, and has a testimony...she's scared of something and we're working on it. We made calendars to chart bom reading for her and the 2 kids she lives with. They're great fellowshippers! We got them prizes for when they complete it and they're reading out of the kids picture book that tells the bom stories. They love it and they brought their calendars to church yesterday to show us how much they've completed. We rewarded them with some stickers.

So this week we've been very blessed! We're so excited to help them and grateful, too! We've been trying new finding ideas (story of my life.) and we had been advertising a church tour all week long with everyone we met. Guess how many people came? zip. 0. zilch. But we know our efforts were seen and we were blessed in other places.

Gma, you sent me that Amy B. Hansen cd- she's sooo good! We were driving listening to the first song (mix of sweet hour of prayer/praise to the man) and we were like holy cow! this is our jam! It's so awesome...youtube it or something. We agreed we need her address so we can write her a letter- wanna find that for us?

Kyle Shumway served in Brampton? It's definitely my fav area thus far. I haven't met anyone from zimbabwe. we were wondering about the # of referrals they got from the temple openhouse. We run into people often that said they went to it. 1500 referrals. WOW. we're lucky if we get 1 a week. Brampton has 3 wards- Brampton, Heartlake and spanish chingacousey. as well as credit view nearby.

Our bishops wife is indian, yes. She speaks tamil and hindi. He baptized her when he was on his mission!

Have a great week!

love sister messer

great things continue to happen!

HEY! exciting news with transfers!!!

Sister Anushya is being transferred to Burlington (right by Oakville) and her comp is sis turvaville! cool, eh? Sister Tuia is coming to Brampton to be my comp. I'm follow-up training her (only meaning she's been one 1 transfer and still is in her training study in the mornings) and she is from Samoa! I honestly thought I was going to be her companion last transfer when I saw her picture in the office and was kind of surprised when i wasn't...but i'm pysched to go pick her up tomorrow!

That's exciting about President and Sister Dalley! haha I'll miss Pres and Sis Leavitt of course...but they'll do good too- his counselors will be a lot of fun as well!

I had salmon for the first time. end of story.

Mo is becoming a pretty awesome member missionary! He was confirmed yesterday at church and he was lookin fly. He's so happy! A new member in the ward brought her friend to church and Mo brought him to me and said, "this is kevin, he wants to know about the bom and be baptized." hahaha We also gave him pass along cards to hand out while he walks around brampton. He's so excited to be a member! 

The weather this week was sooooo hotttttt! Oh gosh. It wasn't totally unbearable but they said it felt like the heat of summer...if that's as bad as it gets, i may just survive. I think it was 40-45*C plus the humidity (which of course i love...)

I"ll answer some of your Q's.

Q- So, do you ever miss Mississauga?  Is sister Wirthlin still there? I havent missed that area too much :) the people are a lot nicer here (not as many white people) but for real- i have this fear of contacting white people...they're mean! SisW is still there--

Q- Is everywhere pretty and green like Nauvoo? It is really green! especially getting out into the country when we drive to bolton or woodbridge, it reminds me of eastern US.

Q- How is Sathri doing? SAD. He won't answer calls or anything. He called us to tell us last week that he couldn't come to church because he had to take his dad somewhere and sisA was disappointed and told him to atleast come for an hour but he didn't. Since then he won't answer calls. We'll keep trying though.

So there's a guy in the credit view ward (the boundaries we actually live in) and he has a mormon.org message! he takes clothes to Uruguay. You should look him up. I talked to him for quite some time at a dinner last night. The bishops son leaves for the mtc tonight (he's serving in india) and had a dinner open house yesterday. Practically the entire ward came- it was like a big family party! I really love this ward. I'm excited to stay another transfer.

A quick story that happened this week- last Friday (over a week ago) we saw some people moving into a house across the street from the church and so we walked over and helped them unload their truck, invited them out to church and stuff. We continued to run into the lady about every other day walking or just sitting outside. well, on Saturday we saw her walking across the parking lot as we had stopped by the church for just a second so we walked over and talked to her for a few minutes. She was really sweet, told us she was pregnant with her 10th kid and what not. She started asking about the church and temple and then smiled and said," ya, i was baptized in the mississauga church when i was 12." my mouth dropped open and i said, "well welcome home!" she laughed and i told her she should come out and she said she would talk to her bf about it. Miracles happen! We have a pretty good relationship with her and she lives literally like 20 yds from the church.

Well, great things continue to happen! Thanks for the prayers and the updates- have a fun week!

love sister messer