Londonderry Chapter 13

Well this week has been pretty crazy honestly. With transfers and everything that is going on, it was a gong show again. I think I live in a continuous gong show sometimes. I'm really learning patience and charity.

Monday

Well we had pday. It was pretty nice. We had the car to ourselves. We went and played basketball with Bro Thomas in the morning. One of the games was really great. It was all about if I could make the 3 point shot. Well a few shots later the game was over. It's really cool to see what I'm good at in basketball and really using those skills. Never thought I would have basketball skills, but I do. We then followed Spanish and helped Poulins (housing coordinators) move things from storage into a new apartment for the Forest Heights sister. We then went to their old apartment and helped them move some other things. Finally around 12 we were done. We continued on with the rest of P-day. We went over to Calverts for supper since 3 of them were leaving. We then went to a lesson with Cody to fill him in on what is going on, and kinda fill me in. It was a really good day.

Tuesday

Well most of today was finishing up what we didn't get to on Monday and Elder Phillips packing up. We went to lunch with LD1, Spanish, CL, CD2 at Pizza hut. It was pretty fun. We went to supper with Thomas that night. After that LD1 dropped us off at Higgins and Sis Higgins gave us a haircut and Elder Phillips said goodbye. St. Paul picked us up and we went back to our place.

Wednesday

Well today was transfers. We got up and got ready. CL was going to transfer meeting for leadership training so they came to help haul Elder Phillips' stuff. Then we went to transfer meeting. I met Elder Hentunen. He is a pretty cool. I told you a little bit last week. He is from Finland. He has been on his mission for 3 months. He is ready to get work done. Well we had to wait until the leadership meeting was over to get a ride back with CL1. So that took a while. We had supper with Dorrey's and then went over to Thiessen's. Bro Thiessen was going to come with us  to a lesson, but we never made it there. We went to pull out of the parking lot and got stuck. It has been incredibly warm for January and so most of the snow has been melting. Well we got the car stuck. We finally got it out of the way and got it stuck in another snow bank. We saw some others were stuck so we went down to help them. After some anger and colorful language we got them out and they came to help us. We finally got the car so it could go again. By then we wouldn't be able to make it down to where we were going and back it back for a lesson with Cody so we just went to the Church to wait for Cody. We ran into some of the members while we were there. It was mutual. Well Bro Bonnell was there. He served his mission in Finland so him and Elder Hentunen went off in Finnish. Later we found Bro Forsyth who also went to Finland. Elder Hentunen has made more connections than I have. We had a really great lesson with Cody and the sisters. Then walked home. We are now in a car share with CL1. This isn't going to be as easy as it was with the other Londonderry.

Thursday

We had district meeting and then District Lunch. I don't know why things are so much different then they were before, but they sure are. We then met with the sisters so I could tell them some different things about the area. We then went back and changed. Then we went to see Bro Guinard. We had a good visit with him. We have realized the couple of things keeping back from coming to church. One his health. He can't walk around very well during winter. Another is Sis Guinard, she is not too keen on everything we don't think. Well we then went to Senuk's for supper. It was crazy. Their kids are little balls of fun. Elder Hentunen really gets along well with kids. Well we were there for a while so we wouldn't be able to make it to Sis Stamp. So we walked home and talked to some people. Tried stopping by Alosious. and then went home.

Friday

We had a lesson with Annette in the morning. It went really well we were able to help resolve some of her concerns. She accepted the baptismal invitation. When she knows it's true she will be baptized. It's exciting. We then went back and had weekly planning. We discussed about a lot of things. We are going to get a lot done. We then went to see Bro Duckworth and introduce him to Elder Hentunen. We had supper on our own and then we traveled down to Joe and Sheena. We got there and I'm pretty sure they forgot about it. Joe and his dad had just gotten home from work so we went in and just chatted for a little bit. Next week we are going to start teaching her for sure.

Saturday

Well we had service with Dave. It's been a while since we've done anything with him, but we are helping him move things around in his garage. It's a weekly service project. He then took us to Tim Hortons for doughnuts and hot chocolate. We then went back and had lunch. We went to the library to create a form for ward council next week. We then went to the Palmer/Calkins baptism. It was really cool. Lila Calkins has down syndrome and so she doesn't need to be baptized, but she still wanted to. It was a really cool experience. We then had supper with Thiessen's. They are super awesome. They are so ready and willing to do missionary work. We challenged them to pray for missionary oppurtunities and they are going to be the first people that we have a date to follow up with them. Following up with members really pushes them to get things done. It will be really good. We then went to David's for some more African drumming. It was similar to what Elder Phillips and I did last week, just learning basic drum patterns. Still super fun. We are going to see if David will play for a mutual some night or see if we can get it approved to have him drum for a musical number and have us sing.

Sunday

Well we had Church, then coordination. Bro Palmer has some great ideas so after we were done talking with the auxilaries he brought lunch and then we talked about what we want to get done in the ward and talking about ideas for like 2 hours. We then went back home. That was interesting. The sister took off for a lesson with Kenneth. Well we were walking home and Sister Brimacombe was going to go to the lesson with them and stopped to ask if it was us she was going to a lesson with. Nope. So she kept driving, but turned down our street. I knew something was up. We ran down and saw the sisters waiting for Sister Brimacombe at the door. They were going to meet with Ken Chen, our LA neighbor. Not a good sign. We ended up going to the lesson with them and we are going to start teaching him. His story is crazy. Oh the fun of crazy. We then went to our apartment and had supper and studies. We then went and contacted a referral from ZL's and are going back Tuesday. We then found out how crappy public transit is on weekends. We waited around for a while to catch the bus. Which didn't go where I thought it did. So we ended up bus hoping until we were close to where we needed to be. While we were waiting on a bus to leave, we did run into Alosious. Told him where Elder Phillips went and talked to him for a little bit. We were supposed to teach Son english, but we were like 50 min late. We stopped by to say that we will be back next week. We then went to Palmer's. In hindsight we could have probably taught english instead. I wasn't thinking. Oh well.

We had a pretty good week overall. Everything went well. Considering. It's different when half of the zone is brand new to the area. I'm just going to be stronger.

Love you all,

Elder O'Neill

Londonderry Chapter 12

 Sorry Folks I missed posting this last week. It was a crazy week, with not much pc time. So you get two this week. ENJOY! Sheila

 

Hey there,

So this past week has really been quite interesting. It has been a lot of prep for transfers. We already knew that a lot was going to happen in our zone, but I'll tell you more later.

Monday

It was p-day, it was pretty good. Did the usual things. We went to supper at Tanner's. It was Ukrainian Christmas I think. So Sis Tanner made a bunch of Ukrainian food. Perogies, sauerkraut soup, and lazy cabbage rolls. It was all pretty good. Reminded me of the little bit of what I remember from Ukraine. Lots of cabbage. We didn't do much else that night.

Tuesday

Well we had Interviews with President. We drove out to the mission home and got to talk with President. It was really cool just to be able to sit down and talk with him. He did tell Canfield, Bowles, and Philips a little what could be expected from transfers. Didn't really tell me much, but it sounded like I was going to the only one left. We then went to lunch at 5 Guys. We then went back and dropped the others off and went to our apartment to wait until exchanges. I went on exchanges with Elder Shettell. It was definitely interesting. We had supper at Fixsen's. Well as we were heading to supper we realized we had both areas phones. So we had an adventure trying to get it back to them. Luckily they were having supper with CD2, so we could call them and find things out. We gave them the phone back and then went and picked up Canfield and Bowles to give them a ride. We were heading to Bro Duckworth's when they called and asked if they could have the car for the night. Crazy confusion. We ended up bussing to Bro Duckworth's and teaching a short lesson so we could catch the next bus. A bit of a gong show.

Wednesday

Well we met with Annette and Marie that morning. Marie isn't doing really well. She apparently has so many kidney stones that it looks like a mass in her kidney's. The doctors call it a gravel pit. So the lesson was interesting. We read through Alma 32 and talked about faith. Bro Massey was there too. Bro Massey asked Marie if she would like a blessing. She denied and Bro Massey pushed a little hard. That's what really made it interesting. Craziness. Well we went back and had lunch then tried by some people. Well we were going to exchange back at 3:00, but some of the other elders went to the food bank for service that morning and went to a stake house for all-you-can-eat ribs. Pretty much they all ate until they were sick. We finally caught up with them and everyone was dead. Elder Shettell hadn't been felling well so really I was the only one that was good to go. Well after that we had supper. The others were too excited. We had supper with Shaw's. It was really good. Canfield and Bowles ate a little bit. Elder Phillips didn't really eat anything. Kinda a weird supper. We didn't really have much, so we turned in early since Elder Phillips didn't feel that good.

Thursday

Well we started with Mormon.org, had lunch and then went to ZTM. We weren't too excited, because it was going to be the other ZL's and the leadership went to their heads. The Sister's training was the most inspirational. After that we got a chance to talk with everyone. PS people really like the Peanut butter cookies. We then went and stopped by Alosious. He said that Thursday was going to be a good day for him. When we got their though he was busy. We went to Poon's for supper. It was really good. They are a great couple. Just a few stop-bys after that.

Friday

We had Weekly Planning as usual. We then went and watch Alosious play basketball. His school was playing in a tournament and he asked us if we could come. It really meant a lot to him that we showed up. We stopped by some others then went to Thomas' for supper. They are great. After that we went to David's for some African drumming. It was A LOT of fun. It's funny to go over and visit with them. David is a LA who knows pretty much exactly why we go over, meanwhile his wife doesn't really know. One day soon we will get him back to church and her taking the lessons.

Saturday

Well we literally did nothing today. We walked around and tried stopping by as many people as we could down south. We ended up walking around China town for a bit and then walking back to the LRT and riding it back and forth for a little ways until supper. We didn't have anything to do. We had supper with Skinners. They are such a great couple. So missionary minded. We then stopped by this family that the YSA sisters tracted into. They are this Vietnamese family that their son, Son, wants to learn English. So we went by to teach him English. Well the rest of family didn't know about it and they were having supper. Well we are going back Sunday.

Sunday

Well we went and had church. It was really good. I really enjoyed seeing some of the people that have been gone for the Holiday's back in the ward again. Well after church we had our usual coordination. That was interesting. The other Elder are leaving and we are getting sisters. Elder Phillips is also likely to be leaving. So pretty much it was whatever needed to be done in the ward is up to me. I had a lot of notes. We then went back to our apartment and had lunch and our studies. We had supper on our own and then did stop-bys. We met the sisters at Son's. It was really interesting teaching English to someone. It's going to be quite an experience. We then went to Palmer's for our weekly visit. They are pretty great.

Well that was my week this last week. It's slowed down since everyone was anticipating transfers. Well so ya transfer calls were this morning. We pretty much had it right. I'm staying and getting a new companion, Elder Hentunen. All I know about him is that he is from Finland. Pretty unique. Elder Phillips is going to Camrose. It's outlying like he was hoping. The Sisters coming are Sister Galovich and McEwan. Pretty weird that I came out with both of them. It is definitely going to be interesting.

Love you,
Elder O'Neill

Londonderry Chapter 11

Hey there everyone. This past week has been super fun and super crazy.

Monday

Well today was kinda a boring p-day. A lot of the zone was doing different things so we really didn't get together. We ended up hanging out with the ZL's and Spanish at Londonderry chapel. It was pretty boring. We went with Spanish to Nobert's for supper. They are so great and fun to visit. On the way out the front right tire was stuck in a hole. Well you had Simms, Phillips, Shreeve and me. It wasn't too cold outside, so we got it out in no time. It was pretty awesome. That was about all that happened.

Tuesday

Well we went to the Food bank and did service in the morning. It was a little weird. We got a ride with the ZL's but they set up an appointment at 12. We didn't get there until like 10:30. So we got a ride with CD1. We went to Kingsway mall for lunch. After they dropped us off we went to see if we could get in with Sister Allen's mom. Sis Allen said she wanted us to go visit her mom. Well so far we just have awkward conversations through the window. Still haven't gotten in. We headed back home and ran into Alosious who we were going to go meet up with to play basketball at the church. It was a small miracle. He had to get new glasses so couldn't make it. We met up with the other guys and went to supper at Sister Forsyth's. It was a little awkward. It was a supper with her, her roommate, her old roommate and her old roommate's husband. Pretty strange. It was like having a YSA dinner, but we are serving in a family ward. Strange for us. Oh well. We then headed back home. We were supposed to be in by 6. So we played chess, uno and nerts until we were bored. I went to bed the usual time. I didn't stay up this year. Whatever.

Wednesday

I don't remember what we did that morning, but at noon we met the other elders and played basketball at the church with Alosious. We went and picked him up and walked to the church with him. It was really great. We played some Basketball and then took him on a tour of the church. He is really anxious to learn, but won't come to church. We went to the Calverts at 3 for fondue. It was pretty good, but really long and slow. Too many people to do fondue. There was probably 12 of us all having fondue. Gong Show. After that we went over to Bro. Duckworth's. Crazy day.

Thursday

We had district meeting. We then went to Red Robin for district lunch. It was really good. I like being in the city for that reason. We get to go to cool places for district lunch. We then had mormon.org time. We then went to try and stop by Bro Guinard, but he wasn't home. We ended up talking with his neighbor. He is a really cool guy. We then stopped by some other people. We had supper on our own, because supper was supposed to be a 6 but we had another appointment then so we couldn't go. We went to David's. He is the LA that is into african drumming and thai chi. Pretty interesting dude. We might go back sometime next week and play some drums with him. It will be super fun. We then went to Sis Hernandez. We were finally able to meet with her since our many attempts since before Christmas have fallen through. It was good. She got us a 4-in1 extendable backscratcher/pen/magnetic pick up tool/ ball rolling massager. It is pretty cool. We've unscrewed the backscratcher and put on the magnetic part as a pen lid and use it as a cool extendable pen. She is so nice.

Friday

Well we had some time today, so we had to clean up. We got a letter saying that the managers were going to come inspect the apartment again so we had to clean up what they had asked and just cleaned up period. It was good. We then had lunch and then did weekly planning. Bro Bonnell came by around 5 and helped us take our couch to Bro Duckworth. We finally got rid of it! It really opened up our apartment. Now we just have to get rid of our coffee table and we'll be good. We had supper at Branco's with everyone. All 6 of us. ZL's, Spanish and us. Cramped but fun. We then had a lesson with Joe. We were hoping to start teaching his sister, but she was kinda in and out. We taught Joe about PMG and next week we are going to go back and Joe is going to help us teach her lesson 1. It will be great for both of them.

Saturday

Well we did some stop-bys in the morning. We then had lunch. Went and stopped by Bro Guinard, not home again. We were going to play basketball at the stake center with some LA and investigator in Castledowns, but we had a lesson with Alosious instead. We then went and had supper with Laubman's at 3. Sis Laubman's mother isn't doing well so see had us over early so she could go back to the hospital. We then stopped by a few people and then went to Spanish's baptism of Marisela. Part member family in our ward. They have been teaching her for a while and she was finally baptized. It was really cool to go to. We were asked to come so Elder Phillips could play piano and I could lead the music. We probably would have gone anyways. We didn't really do much the rest of the night.

Sunday

Well we were moved to the 9 o'clock church time. It is different, we usually have studies before church, but now it's going to be in the afternoon. Well we had a interesting experience going to church. Pretty much I hit a pretty big snow pile going to church and popped the tire. So after church we had to put the spare on it. Then we had coordination. Bro Palmer wanted to talk to us after coordination. We were there until 3. We then went to stop-by some one that Barrhead called us about. They told us about a LA that was taken to the hospital the night before for premature labor. She had her baby 6 weeks early. We went to stop by and couldn't find her. We had supper with Hoag's and then went back to the Hospital. She was in under her maiden name. She and the baby are doing well. We then went and picked up the others and went to Palmers for P-day eve. They are super great.

Well that was our week. Gong show at most times. This week might not be much better. Just craziness all around. Hopefully things will settle down when transfers come next week.

Love you all,

Elder O'Neill