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) 😊

April 10, 2017

It was a fun week this week. We had exchanges #6 and #7 on the transfer this week. That is 7 in the past 4 weeks. Not to mention MLC and 3 Zone Conferences. I feel like Elder Wright is not even my companion at this point. 

Monday we did some finding in the evening and then exchanged that night with our district leader. Elder Wright went to the Dalhousie ward with Elder Lewis who is our District Leader. I stayed in Waverley and had Elder Gregson and Elder Smith. Elder Gregson had to go home 10 months ago but returned 3 or 4 weeks ago. He is from Edmonton and turns out that he knows Brooke pretty well and knows of Parker. So he gave me a bunch of dirt hahaha. 

Tuesday we had a ZTM and that was great. that day we also taught Rico who was scheduled to be baptized next Saturday. That lesson was great! He accepted the law of Tithing right away! We have since lost contact with him which is bad but we still have our hopes up. That night we did a bunch of finding and that was interesting. Tracting in a tripan is difficult. 

Wednesday morning we took Elder Smith to the airport. He had to go home because of his illness. He had to be there by 5:45 so that was an early morning. President Craig was in Saskatoon so he was not there with us like he ussually would be.  I was back with Elder Wright this day. We did a lot of finding and we found a lot of good potentials. We also found a guy named Boyu who is from China. He is YSA and i think that he will get baptized. Too bad we can't teach YSA. Elder Timms is in the YSA though so he will take good care of him. 

Thursday we had another exhange. This time I was with Elder Blommaert who is the ZL in the Winnipeg South Zone With Elder Quinton right now.  We taught their baptismal date. He is SO GOOD! He is getting baptized wednesday because Elder Quinton is leaving for Regina the next day. 

Friday we spent a lot of the day travel planning in the office. We are ahead of schedule this transfer week so technology willing this transfer week should be smooth. 

Saturday we spent tracting and at a baptism for the YSA Elders. They baptize a lot!. 

Sunday was a good sabbath.

Love Elder Stewart