Rough Week but Good Attitude

This week was a pretty rough one for us, everyone dropped us or just flaked out. We have found a lot of tares so this week will be the week of the Harvest!

Monday for P-Day we played ball hockey in the church gym, it was inspired by Play On! It is pretty amazing how much all of the Canadians are than all of the Americans. None of us Canadians ever really played organized hockey but I guess the Pond hockey helps. If we played the Canada vs US game it was 7-1 like every time. Pretty interesting, must be in the Maple Syrup. We mixed up the teams a bit though and had some good games. We don't have any goalie equipment so we just played with the small round classroom tables in the church as nets. It is pretty small. We played with a Play On! ball though so our ankles are still recovering haha. Elder gee decided that the best way to play goalie was to sit cross legged in front of the net because that way he could cover like 90% of the net. that was a good idea until I shot the ball and it got tipped directly into his nose. He was bleeding and all. He is fine now so don't worry haha. that night our lesson with our the "Golden Investigator" Prince cancelled so we did some finding before YSA FHE. For FHE we cleaned the chapel and played some Frisbee. The stage was in grave need of that clean! We found some clothes in the corner that belong to a missionary serving from Winnipeg who left last year! SICK!!

Tuesday we had some good lessons scheduled but some of them fell through which is always frustrating, especially when they are far away. You drive 20 minutes there just to not have them answer. Usually when that happens we try to find over in that area to make the trip worth it but sometimes that is not the best idea because we are supposed to work with the YSA so if it is surrounded by a bunch of old people then we will drive somewhere there are more YSA. I think if as humans we could be just a bit more reliable our world would progress a lot faster. Maybe it is just with missionaries though... We also went to a Birthday lunch for a recent convert that day but that was short lived because we are only allotted 30 minutes for lunch to reserve pros time. That day we taught a Chinese student named Zak. He seems like he could be solid but he left for Hong Kong for the next 3 months so that was that. I have made a section in the area book for "In China, contact in September". Sadly it is currently more full that our investigator section haha. Most of the Chinese people here are very wealthy so they travel home for the summer every summer. it makes it hard to do missionary work because probably half or more of the U of M's students are in China. We also did a lot of tracting that night. 

Wednesday we had District Meeting in the morning. It is weird being the oldest missionary in the district, I don't feel any older than I ever did but those around me seem a lot younger. Funny how perception works. As part of district meeting Elder Gee had me explain how we came to the goal of 204 baptisms in the year 2017. I talked about the 9 hour MLC that concluded with that decision. It was a nice trip down memory lane! After DM we went to do some service moving things out of the mission home that are not going to the new mission home. I don't know if I mentioned but they are moving the mission home down to a neighborhood closer to whee the temple will be. I was really hoping I could go home from the old mission home but not so. As we were moving some stuff out it was sad to see the famous "Mission Home" that always smells like a home cooked meal and is always bight empty and dark. The mission president and wives have lived there since 1976. Pretty sad to see it gone but apparently the new one is nice too. That night we got lunched by our then "Bronze Investigator" Prince. We also had ward correlation. That is such an important meeting! Our new Ward Mission Leader is a convert from China who was baptized in Edmonton. He is Great! He was very excited about the meeting, maybe because on Saturday he got to baptize his girlfriend who is also solid! That night we taught a recent convert from Nigeria named Layi. 

Thursday we got lunched again by our probably then "Aluminum Investigator" Prince. He was so solid but then became so not solid. he heard some anti and we think he got offended when we asked why he skipped the lesson. I feel bad about how it all went down but live and learn I guess. We have not heard from him since :(. When we don't have lessons we spend a lot of time at the University of Manitoba street contacting. it is fun because there are so many people. It has potential to get awkward though because since we talk to so many Nigerians and so many Chinese people it is easy to not remember their face and then you realize you have already talked to them. They remember you but you don't remember them. It's a struggle but it makes you a little quicker on your feet. I like the university! that night was Institute. The Sr missionaries teach it and the current couple is very new. I think it takes people a bit to get used to a new teacher because no one ever answers questions. I feel bad for them as teachers.. 

Friday was a bit of a crazy day because we had to take our car into the dealership in the AM so we had to make up our studies and do weekly planning. Needless to say I could not wait to leave the apartment. We had a good lesson with a recent convert and he was anxious to update us on the NHL draft. I learned how uninformed I am. That night was very fun, the EQ organized an activity and we decided if we could get some people to go then we would go. We got the perfect hat trick, a less active, a recent convert and an investigator there! It was a murder mystery role play kind of game. Our people loved it! They also had pizza but as missionaries our curfew certainly limited our ability to stay for the pizza because we did not want to turn to pumpkins.. 

Saturday was the Baptism of Louise (our WML's GF). It was supposed to be at the stake center but since we have had so  much rain it wrecked the pipes so at the stake center the water came out of the taps looking like watered down chocolate milk. So at noon on Saturday the sisters called an audible and moved the baptism. That was a little crazy but it all worked out! That night we went out to check the railroad tracks. We had left a dime on it and we went out to find it! That was really neat! It got squished by the train real well! If that is illegal please keep this off of the blog and let me know but that was pretty neat!

Sunday was a good day! Sundays fly by like crazy but we found a guy named Joshua and set a date with him. We will see what happens!

Love you all Elder Stewart

June 12, 2017

This week was a super fun week for us. I love the YSA ward and I love having so much time on my hands to just be a missionary. I was talking to the Assistants and they have 3 zone conferences and an exchange this week. We on the other hand have almost nothing but personal finding and lessons. It is fun!

Monday we played Gadianton robbers for P-Day and that was nice. Elder Gee really wanted to play so i agreed to narrate for him and it was great. We had like 18 missionaries playing but it was sad because honestly they were really bad at it... That night we had family home evening with the YSA ward and we played ultimate frisbee. That was pretty fun! I am sad that i only get 1 transfer here though, I would love to spend 6 months in this ward. 

Tuesday we taught a couple recent converts and did some finding. We were able to street contact into a guy named Steve who is super nice. he is from Ghana and he is Christian but he is not so married to his church which is the perfect situation. There is no one better to find than a less active Catholic. They are so open! Anyways we taught Steve and he is very interested. Hopefully something comes of it! 

Wednesday was district meeting. I enjoyed it, Elder Gee gave some good training on the Tsar Canon. look it up! It is a great analogy that i don't want to type up. Wednesday we also taught a group of 5 Nigerian roommates. That was a little intimidating but they were super nice and I think 1-2 of them could be solid. It sounds like last transfer was a little slow in the YSA so Elder Gee and i have found a few places that are just like streets where the YSA people flow like milk and honey. We are finding like crazy and we figure someone is bound to be prepared.

Thursday was the day we taught some basketball player from Zimbabwe. He is a nice guy and his name is Kushinga. He would not set a date for baptism but is pretty reliable. That night we also had institute and I actually enjoyed that. I didn't always love seminary, especially during release time but I think I am becoming more genuine in my learning. After teaching the gospel for two years I am actually interested in learning more! The teachers are the Sr YSA missionaries named the Guellers and they are from Green Bay. 

Friday we had a busy day with some lessons. One of them was with a recent convert and his investigator sister. It was a little awkward because they started ranting to us about eachother. I just had to pull some Dr Phil wisdom out and ask them "So are you telling me..." It worked well and we actually had a pretty good lesson. That night we had dinner with the Guellers. We also had ward Correlation with the new ward mission leader. At ward correlation the bishop was there and we had some good things to talk about. I kind of felt bad because previous assignments that had been given to the Elders that i did not know about were uncompleted. We got some new assignments and some updated ones and tried our best to get those done. One assignment was a LA named Heri who is korean. Heri had not been to church in about a year. Bishop asked us to get in touch with him. the next day at we got in touch with him. We then taught him, invited him to church and he came. That really helps with ward council support when assignments are completed and accounted on. It was good stuff!

To make it better we also found a new investigator named Terry who also is Korean. We taught him, invited him to church and he came as well. Heri and Terry exchanged contact info and are now helping each other become associated or re associated with the church. I love it when a plan comes together! Our Saturday consisted of teaching those two and a lot of finding. 

Sunday we had church, ward council and some finding. Other than Heri and terry coming to church it was mostly just an average missionary day. 

Love you all!

Elder Stewart 

Realization of Reality - June 19, 2017

This week we dropped all 6 of the baptismal dates from last week. When i was with Elder Wright we did a portion on maintaining baptismal dates and I did some calculations. I should get the actual numbers but something like 70% of baptismal dates that we set drop within the first 14 days. It was insane... anyways, I guess we are contributing to that. Fortunately we were able to contribute 3 new dates this week and one of them is SO SOLID!!

Monday we played beach volleyball and ultimate Frisbee for P-Day and then for FHE we delivered flyers for Winnipeg Harvest which is similar to target hunger. They do it every year and the way it works is that The bishops storehouse in Lethbridge provides x amount of food, we collect food from the community and people can make food donation at Winnipeg harvests location. The amount of food provided by that is then matched by Safeway and Peak of the Market. It sounds like i should raise a ton of food but I collected food from probably 60 blocks of houses. 1 donation... I shouldn't judge but people are the worst sometimes. We were even in a well off part of town. Here is a challenge, if something like this goes on in your town, I challenge you to donate even just 1 can of something to those who need it! If every house on those 60 blocks donated 1 can, assuming there are like 15 houses on each block on either side of the road that would be 1800 cans of food! It was fun to deliver flyers though, that goes a lot faster than tracting because you don't get caught up talking to people who are not interested. 

Tuesday was one of those days that just seems to slip through your fingers. (those happen a lot as you near the end of your mission because you want to do so much that no matter how much you do you wish you could have accomplished more). Its like being in the fourth quarter down 2 points. I had to work on My Plan that morning and then  we had some time to street contact at the U of M. It is nice because when we go to "african alley" you can talk to 1000000 people a minute and many of them want to learn more. I have kind of made it a point to not limit my sights to only immigrants and ignore white people but typically only the immigrants want anything to do with us. Tuesday was different though, we were walking down this street and there is literally 1 white guy. He calls us over and I was like "this is a miracle!". It may have been but he was already a member who served a mission and was just in town for a conference. It is nice seeing members when out finding though. 

Wednesday was Zone Conference. It was weird to go to Zone Conference and not have a couple portions assigned to me and not have to go early to wrestle with bad technology and stuff. It was way relaxed but honestly I missed it. I was able to enjoy the training though. The Assistants trained on something that we decided on before I left and that was applying past training. I worry that so often we train on things and it is great but then we leave and just do the exact same thing we were doing before. It's like a new years resolution that lasts until the 3rd of January. So they gave a good portion on how to apply it as a zone, as a district, as a companionship, and as an individual. Sister Craig gave a portion as well on Mission Unity. This was like the last word i got before i left the office. I feel that the mission like any organization would run smoother and more successfully if there was increased communication and unity. That was mostly just a comment but Sister Craig took it and ran with it and did SO WELL. She talked about how when we baptize that is the mission baptizing so feeling envy, spite or jealousy is not right. She did it in very sweet terms but I loved it. I wish that training could have been given at the beginning of my mission because with the right mindset I think motives become more pure. I told Elder Gee, "I think we keep people out of the church by not turning them over". Meaning if the Sisters investigator would benefit more from the elders or visa versa, turn them over and let them fly! It applies to life too, if your girlfriend is more suited for your best friend.. just kidding. Anyways, President Craig stole the show a little bit with his training portion. He talked about studies. I have been a good student on my mission but I have really stepped my game up recently. I have learned that instead of just trying to gain knowledge by reading, it is way better to go in with a question and use a few different materials. When I just read the Book of Mormon all personal study I don't get as much out of it. So recently I have been planning my studies and having more resources in my studies. If I could go back i would spend more time in Preach my Gospel and less time everywhere else. At he conclusion of Zone Conference President Craig was kind enough to point out that I was the only one in my last Zone Conference. SO he called on me to share my talk with the zone. The topic i was asked to speak on  was What think ye of Christ". Now that is a nice topic. I started by telling the story of my first day in the field where I almost missed the greyhound to Thompson and then upon arrival there was no-one there. I don't know i I ever did write home about that but it was a story that got everyone laughing. I related how I felt more alone than ever being deserted in Thompson Manitoba with no companion, no car, no phone and no phone number to call if I did have a phone. Except home which may have been who I called if my companion had not showed up 2 minutes later. I felt very alone. I then testified of Jesus Christ and His love. It was really hot in there and I started sweating... out of my eyeballs. That was the end of that. I was SO sad that it was my last Zone Conference. I just want to get shipped back up to Thompson and get this party started all over again. 

Thursday was some more My Plan, a lesson with a recent convert and a new investigator that was not that solid. We found a guy named Prince though and set a lesson with him. Apparently he is the best player on U of W's soccer team but right now is injured. He is from Sierra Leon, same place as Sheku was from. 

Friday Morning we taught Prince and it was great. i think he could be really really good. He is a less active Christian but has recently made steps towards becoming more diligent in his faith. the lesson went very well and we set a baptismal date for the 15th of July. the day after I go home...

Saturday we helped with the harvest and like I said the results were a little disappointing. We also found a new investigator whose uncle is William tanui, Gold medalsist in the 92 Olympics in Barcelona in the 800m!

Sunday was great!

Love you all. 

Elder Stewart

Elder Gee and Elder Stewart

After helping with Winnipeg Harvest

Missions are tiring!

June 5, 2017 - First Week in YSA

This week was a weird one, I am now done being in the office and am back to being junior companion out of the MLC for the first time since I was with Elder Birchall. It feels weird but I think it is just what i need. I think President Craig is inspired for many reasons but one of them is that I think this is a good opportunity for me to kind of have a reality check. I have spent so much time administering and ministering to missionaries that I have kind of missed the opportunity to just have nothing but missionary work on my mind. I wouldn't want it any other way. It is strange the progress of your mission. For the first year all you think about is how this is your first whatever. First Christmas on the mission, first call home, first time being transferred. After your year mark it gets weird because you get to the point where it is like "man, this is my second Halloween" or whatever it is. Inevitably you are just conscious of it. Now I am starting to feel the last of certain things... I am not trunky, I am too sad to be haha. 

Monday I sent a big bag of my winter stuff home to the greyhound station in Lethbridge and put my dad's number on it. Problem was, I did not tell them I was sending it so hopefully they got it! Monday night we drove out to Portage to meet Elder Francis (Elder Wrights new companion) who came in from Regina. That night we drove into Winnipeg and had a lesson with a family from Nigeria. She was loving the Book of Mormon. He on the other hand was probably who Nephi saw in his vision when he says the "A bible, A Bible" quote. This guy tried to rebuke the Book of Mormon in the name of Jesus Christ. Nothing happened so that was comforting...

Tuesday we had meetings all day. We had the seniors meeting first to schedule the transfer week out. I love that meeting. We come to it with a sheet of paper prepared with everything that will happen that transfer week on it. Everything from cars, to supplies to mail, to greenies. We were talking it over and I asked if the cars looked ok and he just went off on how good the cars looked that he just picked up from the lot. President just kindly informed him that I meant the plans regarding the cars and we went on. It was a hoot. I think they should make a tv show out of the CANWIN mission office. We also had the trainers meeting, I have been in that meeting quite a few times and honestly it was sad to be in it for the last time. I have our training like memorized and I know exactly what President and Sister Craig will say and when they will say it. The same is true with the next meeting we have which is the new leaders meeting. I reminisced on going to that as a new district leader and then missing it as a new zone leader because I forgot about the time difference in the two provinces. Anyways, it was really weird to walk out of that room knowing I would never have a meeting there again. That night we had a meal appointment and some tracting.

Wednesday we taught a native guy named Troy who has a baptismal date for July 1. I am hoping he can make it. We then went and helped the Hamiltons move. That was a gong show. I vow that any time I move I will be organized. i have moved way too many hoarders on my mission and it just is not effective. That was short lived though because we had to get all of the mail and supplies ready. It was a 7 week transfer this time so that was the most mail and supplies I have ever seen. It filled up our whole truck bed. We had to take all of it to the St James chapel and then get going so we could get to the airport on time. We picked up the new missionaries. one was Sister Patac from the Phillipines, she has been a visa waiter but finally got it and is now serving here. One was serving in Scotland-Ireland mission but had to go home and is now waiting to re-gain his visa and get back there. He knows Mason pretty well. The others are normal trainees. I love picking them up but this time I was hit in the face with reality, I am like 2 years older than these people. They seemed SO YOUNG! It was insane. That was another last, last time to the airport for a while. Then we went and had dinner at the mission home and I got to bear my testimony. that night we set up for the new missionary orientation. 

Thursday was transfers so we had breakfast at the mission home and then had a big companion study with the new missionaries. We then went to the St James chapel and gave new missionary orientation. I would be surprised if they retain 10% of what is said. their eyes look glossy and their eyelids look heavy. The training went well and then we had to get everyone on the road. With that I left with Elder Gee without looking back. Elder Timms and Elder Gee had a baptism that day so we went to that.His name was Buyu and Elder Wright and I actually found and taught him before turning him over so that was neat! Elder Timms went out in style I would say. That night we just did some finding. Because Boyu got baptized our investigator pool went to 0. I think they focused so much on him that finding was on the back burner and the back burner was not turned on haha. Anyways I am excited to be here!

Friday we taught a guy maned Jay and set a baptismal date with him! For October... because he is moving to Vancouver for the summer. We are going to try to contact the missionaries there and maybe he will get baptized there. That day President also asked me to come and talk to him in his office. I probably would have been nervous a few months back but I was not for this one. he just sat me down and we just talked. Our relationship had been so much business and so much responsibility that he wanted to just talk. he thanked me for my help with everything and it was super nice. That afternoon was MLC and I was not there. That was kind of weird! That night we taught a recent convert about the brazen serpent because he had a bunch of questions about it and he is writing a book. I took personal study to look at it and I learned a lot. It is interesting that that short experience is referenced multiple times in the old testament and Book of Mormon as well as by Christ himself in the new Testament. Must be important. I sure learned a lot!

Saturday we taught Boyu. He went back to China on Sunday to see his family so it was good, we role played how to say no to beverages not in line with the word of Wisdom. He is really solid! That day we did a bunch of  finding and I started the infamous "My Plan". 

Sunday we had jay at church. He is the one moving to Vancouver. We also had an elders quorum meeting and I went to bed at 10:30 for the first time on a Sunday night since last December because I was not in the office doing indicators. It was a bittersweet feeling! Hope everyone had a great week!

Love Elder Stewart

May 29, 2017 - Last Week in the Office and Play On!

Dear friends and family,

I am writing this on a bumpy highway between Winnipeg and Brandon to pick up my replacement in the office. This week was a good one. We had 0 exchanges this week! I think this was the first week I have had 0 exchanges since December. Pretty crazy!

Monday we played tennis for P-Day!That was super fun. That night we did some finding in little Hong Kong which is the south part of the city. So man chinese people!

Tuesday we had DM and did some office work so that this coming week doesn't put us through the ringer too badly. I love preparing for transfers, it is just like prepping for a big game or something. You get to put so much preparation into it and then regardless of how prepared you are you always have to make some kind of audible. I have probably just been away from sports for too long but it really seems to get your heart beating haha. 

Wednesday We did a bunch of finding and taught one lesson. That night we stopped by a potential whom we had met just a few days earlier. He is a basketball guy so we got talking about basketball. he said he knew all about LCI basketball. He also said that a few years back some kid named Jimmy Ralph lit them up for like 45 points. Funny how stuff like that sticks with you. He also was a coach for PGC so that was another connection. Hoopefully he will progress and convert. 

Thursday We found a new investigator named Roger. He is new in Canada (so is everyone that gives us the time of day). He is from China and is actually baptist. He refused to accept the Book of Mormon because he had to ask his friend first before he would accept it because "he is the only man I trust here in this land of Canada". Lucky for us his friend is in our ward!! 

Friday I got an unexpected phone call! It was a member of the bishopric and Elder Wright answered. Long story short I ended up with a 15 minute talk to give on Sunday... Thanks Elder Wright haha. I would have done the exact same thing to him without hesitation! We also had a good meal appointment whee we met a few non-members!

Saturday was GREAT! We were at Play On! all day long. We had 14-16 missionaries there and we worked in companionship's. In the am Elder wright and I worked in the tent giving away registration packages and stuff. In the afternoon we were given a fancy radio and given the task of monitoring the rinks. Pretty much we got to walk around and if a game was getting heated we should stay there for a bit to keep an eye on it, as well as filling the refs bottles and running balls to rinks. There were some great hockey players there! I was super impressed. Some of the best players were native guys from reserves! SO TALENTED!! It was good to "bump into" Uncle Scott. That night the sisters had a baptism so we went to that as well! It was a good day and the impacts of it will last for months. Everyone knew "The guys in the white shirts". Many people asked who we were. Now when these families get tracted into in the future they will be way more open to talk to us. I think doing it yearly would be a good idea. Winnipegers love hockey and if the missionaries are associated with hockey even in a little way that is huge!

Sunday we got to meet with President Craig and rebuff transfers. To connect a few dots I was asked to speak Friday night, Saturday we had service all day so i had no studies. Sunday morning before church we met with President for 2.5 hours. Point is, I had no time to write my talk. I was writing it on the way to church and on the stand during the announcements. To make it better President and |Sister Craig were there with their oldest daughter. Also Dave Reeve (Very good family friend) were all there. I was like "oh crap". I think it went OK though. I spoke on personal revelation. I found a good talk called personal revelation by Robert D Hales and used some of his thoughts. (thank goodness for I-pads). I also based it on the primary song Search, ponder pray. I didn't enjoy it really but I am glad for the opportunity. I just love my mission! It is the best! I am super sad to leave the office though working with the Craigs has been life changing! I got a note from one of the old assistants from like a year ago and he said he misses it like crazy so I probably won't know how good I have it until it is gone. 

Love Elder Stewart

ps I am going to the YSA ward for my last transfer! I will cove the whole city so I am still kind of in the Waveley area!

Uncle Scott and Elder Stewart

Some of the missionaries volunteering at Play On!

Elder Stewart and Dave Reeve

May 22, 2017

Not too much to report on this week! Monday we played some capture the flag with all of the missionaries in the city. Ever since all of the ballers got transferred and the weather is better we are getting more creative with our activities on P-Day. Today we played Tennis and floor hockey (in honor of Play On! this Saturday. That night we had a dinner with a part member family named the Iwaasa's they are related to the ones in Southern Alberta but not too tight with them. He knows Clayton Hironaka though so that was a neat connection.

Tuesday we worked a bunch with the Chinese population of Winnipeg. We taught a lesson to a guy that probably won't progress too much but it was still good because we had brother Wong there with us. Remember that name because it is important later on. That night we also taught a couple Chinese dudes named Tony and Michael with our ward mission leader who served in Taiwan. They honestly need a mandarin speaker in Winnipeg. We are also trying to teach a recent converts son whose name is Emmanuel but he lunched us that night. 

Wednesday we had our interviews with President Craig. He is such a good leader, he helps us to lead others and still leads them himself all the while still ministering to us. It was pretty funny, he has said to me "Elder Stewart, sometimes I feel like you become the shoemakers kids. Is there anything you need?" Funny way of putting it but it is good to know he still cares for the individual while he leads the group. I think in a very small level that shows part of how God feels. He has billions of people to look out for but doesn't forget those right in front of him either. We also taught Yong that day and tried our best to set a baptismal date with him but he was not willing... Tough. He will be baptized but I am starting think I may get transferred before that happens. We also worked with a prospective elder that night who is recently returning. to church. 

Thursday we exchanged with the South ZL's. I went with Elder McCoard who is from Utah! We had a good day full of tracting. We also did service for a member named Brother Ip. He is also Chinese so that is super helpful. That night we found no-one until like 8:30 and then we found two people who were interested in like 15 minutes. The blessings were definitely in the second mile that day. We knock over 150 doors some days.

Friday we had to go meet with President and Sister Craig to discuss future training and transfers and stuff. Crazy to think that this transfer ends next week. It goes too fast. that night we were out finding again. We do a ton of personal contacting which is ok but U really wish we could work more with members to find people to teach and help. It just has not brought really any success for me so far. I try to think what would help me as a member want to share the gospel and i don't really know. A generic missionary message at a meal does not really work. I am sure i will have some kind of epiphany when I get home but for now we tract!

Saturday we also did a lot of tracting. We did teach a famil from Ivory Coast who had been refugees for 7 years. Hopefully they progress. 

Sunday we had church and Brother Wong showed up with his cousins family who has just moved from China and wants to learn about the Church. We have high hopes for these people because they already have the social connection and the curiosity. Hope it goes well. We also retrained on the rescue initiative in ward council. Is that going at all in the ward in AB? 

Love You all

Elder Stewart 

May 15, 2107 - Mother's Day

This week was a good week, we have began to work mostly with the Chinese people recently because they are some what untouched and are quite receptive to what we teach. 

Monday we did a few stop by's and then spent the balance of the night tracting. Monday was also my 22 month mark. Elder Wright is kind enough to remind me of that haha. Honestly though it just feels the same as any other day. I am doing a good job of not thinking about home (maybe to a fault) but that is a bridge to cross when I am there.

Tuesday was the joint-Zone Conference with the two Winnipeg Zones. That is about 50 people. Elder Wright and I got to give the same training as last week. I went well I think. Training from the assistants has a bit of a bad-rap because we always get the "dry" portions or the portions to improve obedience. They are important but not often the memorable ones or the ones that people look forward to. We tried to make it at least semi-entertaining so we tried to think of a scriptural account in which someone followed up on a commitment they had left. The first we thought of was Christ following up with His apostles after he died and they "went fishing". We also though of the Lord when Samuel was called to be an prophet, or when the Savior returned after the first day of ministering among the Nephites but in the most respectable way those are kind of boring/generic examples. So we pondered and I had a thought that must have been inspired because I am not actually smart enough to think of it but my idea was... Delilah. She is the greatest example of persistence, and consistent followup ever. She was relentless! So Elder Wright and I shared the story of Delilah completely out of context to try to illustrate what we were trying to help people understand. Delilah followed up with Sampson 3 additional times before she was successful in seeing her desire (in this case Unrighteous desire) realized. We need to see our righteous desires realized through faith as a principle of action and of power. We also expressed how each of our investigators will have negative "Delilahs in their life leading up to baptism that will affect them so our follow up needs to be more effective than Satans. We can count on him having daily contact... I think it was a pretty good portion but that may just be me.

That night we did some tracting and I think we may have taught a lesson but honestly i can't remember, it was all a blur.  We had a companionship with us that night who had a meeting with President. Because they were there we ended up having to go to Brandon Zone Conference the next day. So we got to give our portion there as well. The Brandon zone curently has no sisters in it so the STL's were not there. The zone leaders had prepared to give our portion and the sisters portion but since we went we gave ours and the Fawns were asked to give the STL portion. The poor Zone Leaders planned way more than they needed to. It's ok though because Elders Woolley and Bingham are really good guys. We had to leave at lunch from Brandon. Let me tell you the 3:00 blues (becoming very sleepy at 3:00, it happens regardless of what activity you are doing and only lasts for like 20 minutes) hit me and Elder Wright hard. It was hot out, we had to wake up early that morning and I was exhausted. Good thing he was thee so we could keep each other awake! We were supposed to teach Yong but he had to postpone so that was sad...

Thursday I was on exchanges in gateway's area. I served there for a transfer prior to coming to Waverley so that was kind of fun. I was with Elder Christeanson who is the Zone leader up there with Elder Grant. We had a busy day. The best part would have been teaching a recent convert and his non-member wife with President Craig. It was a good lesson and i just wish I could teach like President Craig, he is a good speaker. He is also a lawyer so that's expected. We also got to teach brother Pearce who I was working with pretty hard when i was up there. he was a PE when i was there and received the Melchizedek Priesthood since then and is now in temple prep. makes me happy to see him progress. he is like 85 years old too so he is getting it in just in time :). Overall it was a good day. 

Friday I actually got to proselyte in Waverely with Elder Wright. That was nice. We found a nice Chinese YSA kid who was interested. Other than that it was full of tracting and we had a meal appointment.

Saturday we had our lessons cancel so we literally had nothing all day. Kinda stinks because you can't really see any huge progress like you can when you teach a progressing investigator but it is also super nice because you can just get out there and talk to people all day. We did a bunch of finding from 10AM to 9PM. It was pretty rewarding after being in meetings and conferences for most of the last week. 

Sunday was Mothers day! Happy mothers Day mom I love you! Church was good, the Demarchi's fed us and we found 2 new investigators named Laura and Henry from China. I got to talk to the family met Brooke. Hope everyone had a good week!

Love Elder Stewart

May 8, 2017 - Travels, Training and Mercy...Mostly Mercy!

This week flew by faster than anything in the whole world. They say time flies when you are having fun but time really flies when your are busy!

Monday we played some basketball to start off P-Day! We had to end early though because we had to go to Saskatoon. On the way there we stopped in Yorkton and took the Elders there out to a buffet! As the assistants we get extra allotment each month because of the amount of travel we do. |this month though we had some extra so treating those Elders was pretty fun! After leaving Yorkton we continued on toward Saskatoon... or so we thought. It was a series of unfortunate events, a missed turn and an untimely need to fill up with gas that caused us to make a 2 hour detour. Making an 8 hour drive 10 hours and arriving well after 11:00pm Saskatchewan time. Midnight our body time! Pretty pathetic conidering we both have an I-Pad with an unlimited data plan and a GPS. No excuses for getting lost there hahaha. Oh well, we did not crash!

Tuesday was exchanges with Elder Moore (My MTC Companion). He is 6'8 so we looked like Stockton and Malone in the streets. We did some finding and taught 2 recent converts. We also attended the EQ Presidency meeting and revamped the home teaching using missionaries as home teachers. It is genius and it is approved. Their stats will go up like crazy. the only stipulation is that missionaries need to have a member companion and that we cannot home teach active members. Their EQ presidency is super good!  Geoff Vaz is one of the counselors and he is great. Most people in Saskatoon have moved from southern Alberta recently so I know a bunch of the members there. The Zone Leaders actually live in he Vaz' basement. We did not find any new investigators that day but set some lessons with people who became new investigators a few days later. It was a good day. We also played ball that morning so obviously that was a plus.

Wednesday we played ball in the am again. That morning we drove to Regina to exchange with the Zone Leaders there. I was with Elder Quinton and we did some finding before lunch. After lunch we had to move some mission vehicles around the city so all 4 of us had to go because we cannot drive alone. The cars we parked at the temple. The Regina temple is getting a renovation done but not getting rededicated so all of the workers have to be worthy temple recommend holders. I talked to a few of them. They are from Kelowna right now but the head guy is brother Olivers brother or nephew or something. They are replacing the font and some other stuff. Interesting to know that they still must wear white. they are just there in white overalls and white gloves and stuff. Pretty neat honestly. That afternoon Elder Quinton and I met this Muslim guy and I just started talking to him asking how his day was going. He said he was doing well and that he just finished BBQ'ing. He invited us over and we taught the restoration over some stake and Potato! It was super good. We had a meal appointment that night and wouldn't you know it... As we are sitting outside this guys house eating stake who drives by but Sister Clarke, the member who is taking us to dinner that night. We still went to dinner. Sister Clarke is married to a non member and every week they take 12 missionaries out to dinner and son't go cheap. it is over $500 every week! I guess that is what  you do when you are insanely rich haha, I ordered a soup but Elder Wright and I had to leave early because we had a meeting with President and Sister Craig, Elder Smith, and Brother Paul who is the vehicle guy from Salt Lake. Brother Paul trained us on the TIWI which is a box that goes in your car and grades you on you driving and coaches you. Ultimately it makes you not do stupid things in the car. 

Thursday was Zone Conference from  9:30-4:30. It started with brother Paul Training everyone on the TIWI and then we got into the missionary part of things. Elder Wright and I trained on Effective follow up kind of like we did in MLC last week. We did a practice of morning Planning with a specific investigator in mind and planned how to follow up that day and link them with a member. We also practiced how to make the follow up phone call. For the demonstration in Regina, Elder Wright was the missionary and I was the investigator. After the Demo we asked for comments and everyone just ripped on Elder Wright with things he did poorly and what to improve on. It was pretty funny but eventually I was like "OK, now what did he do well? We can't wreck his confidence here". You could then hear a pin drop haha. It is a good thing that Elder Wright is such a good guy because that was pretty embarrassing.  After Zone Conference we drove up to Saskatoon with President and Sister Craig. We had the chance to discuss the needs of the mission just the four of us. That was a good drive. They are just amazing individuals and a great couple. BTW this was also my birthday. Awkward part was that I forgot that it was until the mission office called in the morning to sing to me haha. The i got sang to at Zone Conference. That was a bit embarrassing, pretty awkward honestly. When we arrived in Saskatoon we went to the church to meet a Sister who had been re-assigned to our mission and had flown into Saskatoon earlier that day. When we got to the Zone Leaders house they had the Melfort Elders there. that was Elders Romeril and Sheen. Elder Moore had made me a birthday cake and we had cake with them and the Vaz Family. It was a good time. 

Friday was Saskatoon Zone Conference so we gave our training again there. We had to leave after lunch from there to get back to Winnipeg at a reasonable time. We don't get the privilege of flying like President and Sister Craig do. Right before we left President pulled out hi bank card and said "Elders I need a favor". We were like for sure an he said "Its May 5th, that is Cinqo de Maio. Can you go get some chips and also for the zone?" So we did and apparently they celebrated after Zone Conference. President is such a good guy! We drove as far as Brandon that night and I was going a lot slower because of the newly acquired TIWI. We stayed in the Brandon apartment that night. It is weird though, They are in a new apartment and it is way different than when I was in Brandon. It is sad to see things move on. I think i am beginning to have separation anxiety with the mission. 

Saturday we finished the dive back and had some service in the morning. We had a good lesson in the afternoon with Yong. He is from China. 

Sunday was Stake Conference. We had Elder Priday (An area authority there). Yong came to it. The sound was pretty bad so that was too bad. We could barely hear anything. The spirit was there though! That afternoon we had a meal appointment and stopped by everyone that we did not see this past week. 

Now for the mercy! 3 weeks ago i went and contested a parking ticket and got it down to $0. That same day i learned of a $221 ticket I got on exchanges. This week Elder gregson who i was with went to fight it in traffic court. He is the first missionary in recorded history to do this to a photo-radar but he got it down to $0. It was a perfect example of Pure mercy and no justice haha. 

Love Elder Stewart

May 1, 2017 - Travelling the Globe

Pretty good week this week! I am currently somewhere near Yorkton Saskatchewan on the highway en-route to Saskatoon for an exchange. I am typing this on a Bluetooth keyboard connected to my I-Pad. Pretty crazy what technology can do these days. 

Anyways Monday was a good day for us! We taught a lesson to our baptismal date Emmanuel with Bishop Smith. It was great! The lesso went well and Bishop did great! DOn't get too excited though, he lunched us on Wednesday and we have not had contact since. It blows my mind how people just don't talk to others. They don't tell you their concerns or if they are busy, they just cut contact and ignore you. It seems like a very shortsighted thing to do. You might be able to avoid the missionaries because of caller ID and not answering your door but that doesn't work in life. I think some people are in for a very rude awakening in the real world. 

Tuesday was District Meeting and after that we met with President Craig to discuss some things, particularly training for MLC on Thursday. We were assigned to train on Maintaining baptismal dates. That is what we trained on last time but it is still on the training plan this transfer so we took a different angle at it this time. The rest of the day consisted of getting lunched and tracting. I don't think I will ever enjoy getting lunched. I try to have the view of "come what may and Love it" but it is like losing, it hurts every time haha. 

Wednesday we did service for a man in the ward named Brother Ip. He is from Hong Kong and he is key going forward! We power reared his lawn and helped him build a little garden ledge. They also fed us a nice lunch. We were rushed though because we had a lesson. That night we taught a black lady named Sylvy. We took Brother Kinnear and the lesson was interesting. In the Book of Mormon we learn that the Jews are blind be use they Look beyond the mark. In the best way possible I think some African immigrants are a bit blinded to the gospel because they don't look far enough. They love Jesus so much that nothing else matters. Which in a sense is true but by accepting everything we say they really don't accept any of it. They believe in Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and the restoration as true but they somehow miss the connection that because of this they need to act. They just g on about grace without doing anything differently. If repentance is change then these people are hard to help repent. It is interesting how the adversary works in different ways according to where that are at. Sad because they probably are "happy" at their church and all but they are stuck in their ways and because of that will not progress toward true conversion.. 

Thursday we had MLC and an exchange with the Brandn ZL's. As I mentioned we had trained on this topic before. Last time we made a document with 5 things hat improve maintaining of baptismal dates. We focussed on how to effectively leave commitments at the end of your first lesson. WE had some super interning statistics that I came up with about dates dropping. Something like 70% of new baptismal dates are dropped within the first 7 days. If you can get back in that 2nd and 3rd times then more than likely you will see them progress. So anyways we trained on effectively setting a return appointment and informing them of expectation so there are no surprises. (Things like church, scriptures, Prayer, Bringing members in the future, needing to meet 2-3 a week before baptism). Since then we have seen a better retention in the first 7 days but an increased drop of dates after day #7. So this time we trained on the next stage of it, being follow up and effective daily contact. We did not talk for that long but then we demonstrated part of the daily planning session where we focussed on the investigators we had left commitments with. We then demonstrated a follow up phone-call. I thin teaching others how to do it I easier than actually doing it. Te rest of the day was spent finding. We found some good potential investigators!

Friday was a great day. We had a lesson set with this Chinese man at the church. I would say that when people agree to meet you at the church or anywhere the % of time they show up is less than 20. But Yong showed and we taught him about God. He speaks decent English! I think he will get baptized, he is so happy to be in a place where he can learn about God because obviously in China that was a big No no. 

Saturday we did some service for possibly the best members in the mission. The Demarchis are a couple from South America. They are hilarious and feed us every Sunday. Anyways we did some service and they fed us. We the. Did some home teaching and some finding. We met a bunch of Seventh-Day Adventiststhat day. It was weird, I had never met any in Winnipeg but that day we found multiple groups of them. 

Sunday we had a joint Dalhousie-Waverley Sacrament because of thee Youth conference which was here all weekend. It felt like a ward back home because there was 216 people there. Yong came to church and liked it! Brother Ip was so good as a member fellowshipper!

This coming week we have exchanges and 2one Conferences. 1 in Stoon and 1 in Regina! Lots of driving!

Have a good week!

Love 

Elder Stewart

(Sorry for the terrible grammar and scattered thoughts, I have typed this n chunks while on the bumpiest roads in North America.)

April 24, 2017 - Another Week Bites the Dust

This was a pretty good week. I love weeks like this where we can just be in our area, buckle down and find! We tracted a ton this week and actually saw some fruit come of it!

Monday I went and got a good haircut, my last one was from some ultra cuts and with all due respect i wish I would have cut my own hair with a butter knife. It was awful but it costed $20 so I had to wait a few weeks before I could justify another one. Anyways I went and got one at this super nice place. It was $8 more expensive but It was SOOOOO Nice. I am definitely going back. This kind of illustrates a principle I feel like i have learned on my mission, If you are going to do it, do it right. This really applies to anything, there is no point in halfheartedly doing anything because you will just have to do it over again or you may have lost your chance to do it at all. I am grateful for that lesson. That day we also played ball as part of P-Day and invited one of our investigators. His name is Nabi and he is 18. He is graduated but most of his friends are in grade 12. They came to play and they are all very black. It was kind of fun, they were not great at ball but it was good for Nabi as far as becoming socially converted. Trouble is Nabi is YSA so he will be turned over to them. I wish we were YSA because we find so many YSA people and turn them over and thy are so solid. I know of at least three found by us that were at church on Sunday. Everyone they teach in the past has been from Nigeria but now they are more on the China bandwagon and they are baptizing Chinese people all the time. YSA is the promised land. That night we got lunched so we tracted. 

Tuesday was the MLC conference call. Weekly we have a Mission leadership call with all of the ZL, STL's and President Craig. We discuss the needs of the mission. It is interesting and I really enjoy it. I think i enjoy it more as an Assistant than I did a ZL because now I don't give a report of my zone but i get to listen and try to understand the mission as a whole. We also had District Meeting on this day. The Dalhousie Sisters were talking about one of their investigators who is hard to teach because she is in a governemnt funded program and because of that has some restrictions as to what she can do. They are trying to have daily contact with her but it is hard to do so. They were asking for ideas how to stay in contact with her even though they can't call or text her except for like 3 days a week. it was interesting to see how counseling together helps. We eventually decided that they should try writing a letter a day for her and giving them to her so that she can have contact with them every day even if there is no dialogue. Missionary work is a fun thing, it can be like a puzzle sometimes but it is fun to work though. We again did finding almost all day but the finding was interrupted by a dinner appointment so that was nice. Finding used to be the "if everything else falls through" Activity but as my mission has progressed I have learned that Finding is a key part of missionary work and I really do enjoy it. The weather makes it tough but finding someone is so gratifying. 

Wednesday was an exchange with our trustee District Leader, Elder Lewis. I was with him in his area and we did some home teaching, taught one lesson and a bunch of driving. honestly I felt like we spent too much time in the car but the time we were out of the car were VERY productive. I think that is why we exchange. I learned that I could be more effective with my time while working by doing only worthwhile activities but also focusing on not wasting our time with driving which we are pretty good at right now! We had a dinner appointment that night with an Old German Couple. It is super interesting to talk to them. Since I was working in the Dalhousie ward i had never met them. When I met them she said I looked like her brother who died while fighting for the Nazi Army. She showed us some pictures and told us some stories. It makes me want to learn more about WW2. the war obviously had many terrible results but it is interesting how the war brought this family to the gospel. Talk about mysterious ways...

Thursday was full of tracting. We also taught a Chinese family with Brother Ip from the ward. Apparently President Eyring came here like 8 years ago and prophesied that the church in Winnipeg would grow immensely  and that the growth would come almost exclusively through immigrants. Well believe it or not he is right. It is amazing the interest that immigrants have in the Gospel. 

Friday we taught Emmanuel who is the 17 y/o son of Peter Who was baptized a month before I got here to Waverley. Emmanuel is on date for May 13th and we are teaching him again tonight with Bishop Smith. Emmanuel is a Nigerian immigrant.

Saturday we taught a lesson with a member of the Ward named Brother Basinet. We brought him because of his french. The family we taught is from Ivory Coast and speak better French than English. I think that they will be baptized eventually but probably not while i am here because they can only meet once a week. All in all the work is great! 

Freaks me out that it is going by so fast...

Love Elder Stewart

Transfer Week!

Transfer week!

This transfer was only 5 weeks which is crazy short. I feel like we just finished getting things settled for this transfer and then it was almost time to plan for the next. That is probably a bit of a preview of life though. This coming transfer will be 7 weeks so that will be pretty nice!

Monday I had to go to fight my parking ticket that I got. Here in Manitoba traffic tickets are astronomically expensive (more to come on that). My parking ticket was $70 but I thought it was bologne so I decided to take it up with the "parking Judge". On Monday I went into the Parking ticket center and i took a number. When they called my number i went up and explained that I felt i was being unfairly fined because I was parked next to a post that had no sign on it. Presumably in the past it had a no parking sign on it. I explained that because there was no sign I thought I could park there. She explained that I was parked illegally any ways because on the other side of the parking lot I was parked next to was a no parking sign and that a no parking section cannot be broken by anything other than a public street. Because in my case it was interrupted by an entrance to a parking lot I was GUILTY. I said thank you for that wisdom that will keep me from making the same mistake again. She then went into the back to make her decision. When she came back to her desk she called me back up and gave me a piece of paper. On the paper it stated the offense and underneath it said "Amount due $0.00". I said thank you and walked out of there feeling like $1 000 000. That night we had to get things set for the week like making the calendar, finalizing travel plans and things like that. 

Tuesday was the day of all the training meetings for new trainers and new leaders. I really enjoy those meetings because they are the exact same every time but I actually gleam different things every time. We also had the seniors meeting which is where we review the transfer week schedule that we have made and we discuss logistics for the week with President and Sister Craig and the Senior missionaries. Senior missionaries are so funny, I really like them. The bad thing about Tuesday was that in the mail at the Mission office came 3 Photo Radars. One was for me... Elder Quinton got one too, at the same place on the same day as me. It is such garbage, it is a school zone but the school is in like the basement of a church so you would never know it. Since Manitoba is insane my ticket was $221.00 and was the cheapest of the three that day. The Mission has a rule that the driver and the co-driver have to split the fine which I think is dumb but anyways we were on exchanges so I was with Elder Gregson so he owes half of it. I an letting him go fight it though so hopefully we can get it reduced! That night we went to go try to find Rico who was supposed to baptized on Saturday but disappeared. We could not find him so we went tracting instead. 

Wednesday is the best day of transfer week (Maybe). That is the day we get to go pick up new missionaries from the airport. Elder Wright and I got to the airport a little early and there were these kind of sketchy looking dudes waiting there ad taking pictures with these black people getting off of the plane. There was also a bunch of Limo Drivers there so something was up. I don't think I would have done this before my mission but in my ignorance I just walked up to these sketchy looking guys and asked them what was going on there. Turns out it was some old school Hip Hop show going on at the MTS center that night. (someone should look it up so i can know who I actually met that day). I think the biggest name that came through was "Salt and Pepper". That was kind of neat haha. I was really hoping Tupac and Biggie Smalls would be there :). Eventually the missionaries came out of customs and we met them. New missionaries are so funny. One of two things happens, 1. They don't say much and they look like a 9 year old who just got yelled at because their eyes are bigger than a cows or 2. They come out of that terminal knowing everything there is to know about everything. ( I think in large part to convince them self they know more than they do). Either way it is hilarious. We took the 2 new missionaries to the mission office and then they went to the mission home to catch up on sleep because they were up at 2:30 that morning. On that day we are in charge of the mail and mission supplies for the whole mission so we have to fill our truck with mail, Teaching materials, Bibles, Book of Mormons, and whatever else and take them to the St James Chapel where the transfer meeting will be held the next day. When we got there the sister missionaries were inside so we could not go in until they left. It was a nice day so we just waited in the parking lot and I did the craziest thing ever. I took a cherry tomato and I threw it up over a lamp post in the parking lot, ran around the lamp post and caught it in my mouth! And we have a video of it. I was pretty stoked hahaha. That night we had dinner at the mission home and then a testimony meeting. we had to have it early because after the testimony meeting we took the new missionaries to a baptism. Elder Quinton performed the ordinance!

Thursday is transfer day, so we had breakfast and companion study with the new missionaries at the mission home. We spend so much time there during transfer week and it is such a privilege. That day we gave the new missionary orientation training and  that was nice. Elder Birchall (who went home) was driving the transfer van from Regina was flying so it was ahead of schedule which put our travel plans off (He must have just been trunky and could not wait to get home haha) . That was OK though, we got everyone on the road 4 minutes ahead of schedule! That afternoon Elder Birchall was with us and that evening we had dinner and a testimony meeting at the Mission home. That is my last one as an assistant because that time next transfer week I will be en route to wherever I spend my last transfer. That was a really good testimony meeting. Elder Birchall stayed the night with us that night because he was the only Elder going home so he could obviously no stay at the mission home with the Sisters. 

Friday Morning we started early by driving to the mission home at 5:30 am. We then dropped the missionaries at the airport and went to Cora's with President Craig. Then it was time for the much awaited "recovery nap". That was nice! We then we got to weekly plan with President Craig. He is trying to work more with the missionaries is proselyting and things but he decided to try weekly planning with us. That was interesting... probably some of the best weekly planning i have done. we wee just very thorough. Near the end President was like "Elder Stewart, I think you are getting sick". He was right but I don't know how he knew. He is impressive. He told me to take a nap. I didn't really want to so I justified not taking one by going to bed early that night. It worked and I am healthy now.

Saturday we learned why Rico had stopped contact with us. He wanted to be Catholic for Easter and did not ant to feel pressured into baptism. I am not sure what will happen now but it is good to know he is still alive.

Sunday was a good day but all of our lessons cancelled and no one came to church. Other than that it was great! 

All in All a fantastic transfer week. By far the easiest yet. The tuth of th scripture "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear" is unparalleled". Good life lesson that I will probably never remember to apply haha.

Love Elder Stewart

Here are some keepsakes

Transfer Week Schedule

(April 11 – April 14)

Tuesday, April 11^th, 2017

12:00 PM-  Seniors Meeting

1:00 PM-  New Trainer Meeting (Elders Holbrook, Maciel. Sister James, Hudson)

3:00 PM-  Leadership Training Meeting (Elders McCoard, Holbrook, Atkinson, Fuster. Sisters Davis, Hilton, Miranda) 

Wednesday, April 12^th, 2017

12:45-  Winnipeg Airport  

Missionaries arriving at 12:49 PM (2): Elder Braley, Elder Delano

            Transportation to the Mission Home:                                               

President and Sister Craig: (2 Elders)

                   Luggage in Assistants’ Vehicle

1:45 PM-  Arrive at Mission Home (Paperwork – Sis Meldrum + Assistants will copy Passports/Driver’s License and Health Cards)

5:00 PM-   Dinner at Mission Home – (15) Total: Arriving missionaries (2), Assistants (2), President and Sister Craig (2), Office Staff (4), Robisons (2), The Brookers (2), Sister Vasquez (1).
6:00 PM-  Testimony Meeting
6:45 PM- Train departs from Saskatoon Regina (Arrives at 8:20)

7:00 PM-  Depart for Baptism at St James Chapel

8:30 PM-  Arriving Missionaries stay at the Mission Home

   

Thursday, April 13^th, 2017

6:50 AM-   Train departs from Regina to Winnipeg (10): Floater Van (4) Wanuskewin Truck (3) Retired Sunrise Sisters Subaru (3) Picked up on the way: (2)

8:30 AM-   Breakfast at Mission Home – 2 new missionaries, Assistants, President and Sister Craig (6)

                  Transport luggage from Mission Home to St. James Chapel– Assistants’ Vehicle

9:30 AM-  New Missionaries Study or Proselyte with Assistants

10:30 AM-  Missionaries depart for St. James building           

                        Assistants Vehicle: (2 Elders)

                                                             Orientation Meeting

                        11:00                        Welcome, Opening Song, Prayer

                        11:15                        Sister Meldrum and Sister Howell

                        11:50                        The Smith’s

                        12:40                        Break

                        12:50                        Assistant’s Training Portion

                        1:20                        Sister Craig’s Portion

                        1:40                        President Craig’s Portion

                        2:10                        Introduction of Companions

                        2:30                        Closing Prayer/Blessing on Food

2:30                        Train Arrives at St. James Chapel

                        38 bag lunches in total

3:00 PM-  Transfer Train Leaves for Regina (11) =Going west

Wanuskewin Truck and trailer (4) Regina Floater Van (4) New Regina ZL RAV (3)

                        

*Missionaries Depart -Stress on Time Departure*

Transportation from St. James chapel to Mission Home

President Craig: (1) Elder Birchall

Sister Craig’s Van: (5) Sisters Smith, Crystal, Geddes, Osborn, Tilby

5:30 PM-  Dinner at Mission Home – Thank you Sister Vasquez! – Guests (19): Departing Missionaries (6) Assistants (2) President and Sister Craig (2) Robisons (2) Office Staff (4) The Brookers (2) Sister Vasquez (1)

7:00 PM-  Testimony Meeting @ Mission Home

9:00 PM- (Refreshments – Sister Craig)

            Housing in Mission Home (5) – Sisters Tilby, Smith, Crystal, Geddes, Osborn

            Staying with the Assistants – Elder Birchall

                                                                  

Friday, April 14^th, 2017

5:45 AM-  Depart from Mission Home to Airport

            Transportation to Airport:

President’s car: (5) Sisters Tilby, Osborn, Crystal, Geddes, Smith

Assistants’ Truck: (1) Elder Birchall

Luggage in Assistants truck!

All missionaries: Delta 7:30 AM to Minneapolis

Regina dispersal 8 AM, depart to Saskatoon at 8:20 AM                       

7:00 AM-  Breakfast at Denny’s! (Transfer Debriefing) 😊