Southgate Chapter 12 The Last letter. And Final Chapter of the Book

Well this is my last email home. It feels weird and joyful at the same time. It's been a good two years and I'm excited for the adventures ahead of me. :)

Here is a run down of my last week.

Tuesday

Pday. Emailed, then shopped with the Assistants. Ran to Puma for Elder Wilson. He got his shoes that he couldn't since the power went out last week. We then went to Wal-mart and then dropped everything off and grabbed a change of clothes. Mailed some boxes home that weren't going to fit. Then we changed at the church and played Frisbee. It was great. There were a lot of us to play and it was great. We then came back and showered and changed. We then had supper at Habing's. We made our way home after that. We were exhausted.

Wednesday

We were in the office. Continued to train Elder Strong. We traveled back and we had supper at Sis Thompson's with the other elders. We then went on the computer and did Facebook then went home.

Thursday

We had District Meeting and then lunch. We finished passing out some flyers for the Mandarin elders for their ESL class. We then did Facebook at the church. We traveled and had supper at the Calverts. We then went to the Raaflaub's. They asked us to come over a couple of times this week.

Friday

We were in the office. Last day of training Elder Strong. We then traveled back and had supper at the Browers. Then just stopped by some people.

Saturday

Did some Weekly Planning/Packing. Then did Facebook at the church. We had to pick up supper from Sis Fairbairn. We were going to go to the other elder's apartment, but they forgot to leave the back door unlocked for us, so luckily we got a ride from the Mandarin elders, who we were lucky to see. :) We then had supper and went to Raaflaub's again.

Sunday

We didn't have any meeting that morning. We had church. Sacrament meeting was great. Bro Munoz stands up to announce the rest of the program after the sacrament and gets to the closing prayer.
"and the closing prayer will be offerered by...Elder O'Neill".
Elder Wilson leaned over and asked, "when did he ask you to say the prayer?"
"Right now. :)"

It was great. We then had lunch with the other elder and then had coordination. We went home and had studies. We then went to the McCready's for supper. They are a fun family. We rode the LRT for a bit and then went to the Habing's.

Monday

We ran to the office in the morning. We then borrowed a car. Yes borrowed. Elder Salter approved it. We then ran back and grabbed some stuff and took it over to the Coombs. They are taking some stuff down for us. :) We then met Manadrin at the church for Facebook. They were in between service appointment and didn't want to change. We then picked up supper from Byam's. We then dropped the car back off. We got a ride from the other elders. Then went home and had supper. We then went to FHE at Raaflaub's. Painted some cool pictures.

Well that was my week. Today is Pday then tomorrow is Transfer meeting then the next day I fly home. Love you all and can't wait to see you. Going to miss Canada. It's been a great 2 years.
--
Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 11

Wow I can't believe this is the last week of my mission. Where did the time go??? It's been so crazy. So many memories and experiences. Well here are some more from this past week. :)

Tuesday

We emailed and then borrowed the Ap's car to go shopping. We dropped of the car and then bussed to South Commons. We checked out some stores there. It was soo funny. We were in the Puma store and Elder Wilson had just made the decision to buy a new pair of shoes that were 60% off. He just made the decision that he was going to buy them and... the power shuts off. The whole South Commons power went out. We waited for a little while and continued to walk around, but nothing was open due to the power outage. :) I tried to tell him it was a sign that he shouldn't buy the shoes. :) We then travelled up to supper at Sister Merrell's. After supper we went to the Lee's.

Wednesday

We went into the office. Nothing too exciting. We got a ride to supper from the Ap's. We had supper with Sis Fairbairn, Bro Mackay, and Evlynn. It was great. We were told that Sis Hatch next door needed some help so we knocked on the door and she wouldn't let us help her since we were in pros. We then did Facebook and went home.

Thursday

We had an early lunch and then Mandarin picked us up for Mission Conference. It was so amazing. It was sort of weird for us that are coming home this next week. Elder Brent Nielson of the Seventy and Bro Mills, who manages the international MTC's, came and talked to us preparing the mission for Ipads. They talked a lot about how if we can learn to use technology effectively and to stay away from temptations then we will be better prepared for the future to help our future families stay away from the evil on the internet. It was a good mission conference. The whole mission was there. It was great to be able to talk to everyone again. I miss some of my mission friends already. Elder Walker brought down a frame that Bro Kidd made. When I was still up there we got him a picture of the temple to help remind him of his goal to get back. He made a frame for it and wanted all of us to sign it, so Elder Walker brought it down. It was awesome. :) Totally Bro Kidd style. :) We then got a ride back from the Ap's and then had supper with the Kastendieck's. We then just did some contacting.

Friday

Well we went down to the church and did some planning. We got some hints of what is happening with transfers so we were preparing for that. We were there for most of the day. We then had supper with the Herrick's. We then caught the LRT and were going to ride that for a bit and we rode up to the next stop and there was a man on the corner with a sign "Christ came to save the Sinners."  and "Learn of Christ and you will be saved". We decided to go and talk to him. We bashed a little, but he started being pretty rude. We then just rode the LRT again.

Saturday

We had some plans of things we were going to do, but they all got a little messed up. :( We were going to go to the Library and do some Facebook, but the transit was delayed. We were going to go to the church and get on the computer's before the open house, but by the time we got there, after getting on the wrong bus, We were just in time to help with the Open house. We were told that the missionaries had a little booth and we were supposed to stand there and if anyone had questions they could come talk to us. Well the whole time we were there the only people that would come over to talk were members and there weren't a lot of non-members showing up at that point either. It turned out to be really good afterwards. 26 people came for the open house of the church. Hopefully something will happen. We then went up to the library and then got a ride with the Ap's to our combined supper at the Raaflaub's.

Sunday

We had ward council. We then had Church. Nothing too exciting. Had lunch at the Ap's place and had coordination. We then did some studies and travelled to Speidel's for supper. Can't remember where we went after that, but we ended the night at Habing's. :)

Monday

Well we had to wake up early and Bearspaw came to pick us up so we could go help with Seminary. We were invited to help with the lesson about hastening the work. It was fun. We then came back finished preping then went to the office. I'm training Elder Strong on how to do the Finances so he can keep helping out when I'm gone. We then had supper at Byam's and FHE at Raaflaub's.

It's been a good week. Some crazy experiences, but that's normal.

Last week. Got to make it count. :)

--

Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 10

Well this week has been fun. It seems like it's been a log time since pday. Well it's been an extra day, since I forgot to mention that our pday's were changed to Tuesday. Some missionaries were taking Sunday night as pday eve. President Manion wants us to make the Sabbath more meaningful and has moved pday so we can focus more on the Sabbath day. :) So for the next few weeks I'll be emailing on Tuesday.

Well on with the rest of the week.

Monday

It was the last monday pday. We got a ride after emails with Rutherford to go shopping. They then dropped us off at our apartment. We then walked up to Whyte Ave. It's a shopping street. Tons of little shops all over. It was fun to just walk around. We went to head to supper and waited for the bus for 30 minutes. When it didn't come we just walked. We then had supper with Byams then FHE with the Raaflaubs.

Tuesday

We traveled to the church and did Facebook. We then just tried people and walked around trying to talk to people. We had supper with Draycott's. We then worked our way home. Not much that day.

Wednesday

We were in the office that day. It was great to be in the office that day too. It was snowing all day. It wasn't snowing too much by the time we were leaving which was good, but we enjoyed being inside for that time. :) We then got a ride from the Salter's back home and had supper. We the went to the library.

Thursday

We had District Meeting. We got surprised in the middle of it when Sister Manion walked in. She sat in for a little bit and then went to the other district. She stayed and chatted a little bit during lunch. We got a ride back to our apartment from the Ap's to drop off somethings. We then just travelled around and tried by some people. We had supper by ourselves again and then we just tried some more people that day.

Friday

We did some things at the apartment and then went to the office after lunch. I did what needed to be done while Elder Minaker was working on the training manual. We then travelled home. We had supper with the Browers. It was fun. We ate outside. We were sitting there eating and Sis Fairbairn, who lives in the same complex was coming home with groceries. Well Sis Brower invited her down to join us after she put everything away. They are great. It was a good supper. We then traveled around. We had to wait at Southgate station for the Greenfield elders for a bit. we brought them the referral bible they were needing and then headed home.

Saturday

Well we did some planning that morning and got some things resolved. We then had lunch and went to the church for FB. We then tried some people and traveled. We had supper with the Iverson's. We then were going to go over to the Raaflaubs. When we got there we went on a little trip over to the river area. There was a break up that occured so we became involved in the distraction from it by going to the river and taking a little hike. It was fun. :)

Sunday

We didn't have any meetings that morning due to Mother's Day. :) We had church and then we went back for lunch. We did studies and then went to the Cahoon's for supper. They invited us over after church since we didn't have a supper. We then went to the Stewarts and SKYPED!!! It was a bit crazy getting connected, but it was wonderful to be able to talk with Mom. :) Love you!! <3

Monday

We went down to the church for computers in the morning and then came back and had lunch. we then tracted and walked around. We talked to one guy who told us the history of St. Patrick, the origin of the word hello and that he should have been the next Pope...twice...He was a fun guy to talk to. We had supper with Byam's and then had FHE with the Raaflaub's. It was a good day.

Well the weather is beautiful outside. No more snow....I hope. Things are starting to pick up for us. Hopefully we will be able to finally see some investigators soon. :)

Love, Elder O'Neill

Colin O'Neill	11:31 AM (1 hour ago)
to Family, Garrett, me, My, Regan

Southgate Chapter 9

Well this week was interesting. We didn't have much, but we still tried.

Monday

We had Pday. Got a ride with Mandarin West. We played some frisbee and soccer with Lakewood and Spanish. It was fun we then had supper at Byam's and they were rushed and we were originally rushed, they just picked up McDonalds. It was still great. :) We then had FHE with the Raaflaub's at the Read's. It was a ton of fun. :)

Tuesday

We went and did Facebook at the church. We were coming out of the church to catch the bus and it drove passed. So we went back inside and had to wait for a bit till the next bus came. We then went up and grabbed clothes for later. We tried some potentials. We then had supper with Arrison's and then changed there so we could go help with a move down the street. It went alright. Nothing was packed as much as we had hoped. Bro Foulston then took us out for Ice Cream. :)

Wednesday

Well we had to go to the office for a bit. We need to pick up a key and then we helped Elder Salter with some things. We then went back and changed and went to Dean's house to help him move. He is the guy we went and helped paint a little while ago. Bro Coombs was there and we moved some boxes from his basement to his garage. We then helped him move some boxes from his storage unit to his garage. Well before our first trip to the storage unit we had to drop off something at Bro Coombs. He went around to the front to get in and told his wife there were two guys probably trying to sell something, don't answer. Well we pull around the corner and she called him. She did answer and it was the Spanish elders. It was super funny. They came with us and I'm so glad they did. It went a lot faster and went a lot better overall. Afterwards Bro Coombs took us out to Montana's. Wednesday is all you can eat ribs. :) I tapped out early. We also found out that the all you can eat ribs is only a rack and a quarter. I had the full rack. Bro Coombs had half and was taking another half home for his wife. The other three got 1 1/2 racks. Since the waitress was awesome and brought them another 1/4 for what we didn't eat. It was a lot of fun.

Thursday

We had District Meeting and then had lunch. It was just our district, our small district, at the church for lunch. We then did mormon.org time. We tried some potentials. We then had supper with the Cahoons. We then met with Justin Lee.

Friday

We were in the office all day. Minakers were gone so we had to fill in for everyone. It was a boring day. We then went back and had supper. we then went to the Raaflaubs and helped them out with some projects.

Saturday

We tried by Steve. He wasn't home. We did Facebook at the church, sort of. Internet was in and out. We then traveled up and tried some potentials. Stopped by Josue and he was waiting for a Skype call for his Father's birthday. We then had supper. We didn't do much else that night.

Sunday

PEC. Elder Low and I helped set up chairs and then stood outside for a while. It felt soo good. We then had church is was pretty good. We then were dropped off by the AP's at southgate and had to take the time to travel to coordination. Had coordination and got a ride from Kendricks back home. We did our studies and had supper. We then tried some more potentials after supper.

It was a pretty boring week. Not much happening. Trying to do the best we can.

--

Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 7

Well this week seemed to go by alright. Some ups and downs, but that is how life goes. :) Overall pretty good.

Monday

We had Pday. It was fun. We got a ride with Mandarin around. We went to a park and met up with a lot of the other missionaries. It was transfers too. Said goodbye to Elder Coomer, who is now home. We got a ride back and had supper on our own. We then had FHE with the Raaflaub's.

Tuesday

I can't remember what we did it the morning. After lunch we travelled down to the church to do Facebook. We then had to go get Elder Wilson some allergy medicine. He was dying. We then tried some formers and walked around for a long time. We had supper with Sis Merrell and her boyfriend. It was little weird. We then tried some other people, then headed in. Elder Wilson still wasn't feeling the best.

Wednesday

We were in the office. We covered while the rest of the office went to Transfer meeting. Elder Merica stopped at the office on his way up to High Prairie. Got to talk to him for a bit. Best news of all. Nahia was baptized!!!!!! I was so excited to hear that. Elder Merica told me that at her baptism she bore her testimony and said "I was Muslim, I was Atheist, I was Christian, and now I feel like I'm home". It was great to hear about that. :D I couldn't stop smiling all day. Well later at the office The Red Deer group that was heading down came in. Elder Phillips and Elder Nielson were there. Elder Phillips is now in a tripan for Spanish down there and they had to come and take our bunk bed for our apartment. Well so Elder Wilson jumped in with them and they all took off. I was still at the office. :( It was wierd. Still great to see them. Elder Phillips came back and we talked for a bit too. Well after they got back we were there for a bit more and then we left. We had supper with the Byam's and then Tagalog texted us some potentials that we tried by. Not interested, but still cool.

Thursday

We had District Meeting that morning. Our District is now just us, the Zone Leaders and the Assistants. It's pretty weird. We then had lunch. We were going to the Library to do mormon.org time and Tagalog called on the way and asked if we could go with them to a lesson. They picked us up from the Library and took us to meet with Cindy. They needed us for numbers and she was in our area. It was a good lesson. They dropped us off again at the Library and we did mormon.org time. We then went to the Raaflaub's for supper. Didn't do much else that night.

Friday

We did some weekly planning and then we went into the office. We were there for most of the day. Updating the training manual for the Financial Secretary. So much fun.... We then had supper with the Brower's. It was a fun supper. It was all 4 of us there. We then tried by some other people that night.

Saturday

We tried by Steve, but he wasn't home. We then stopped by the Raaflaub's. Sis Raaflaub had made cinnamon buns for us. :) We were there for a bit. We then came home and had supper. We then tried by some people.

Sunday

We had Ward Council and then church. We were asked to help out in Primary for the second hour. It was fun. We were just supposed to help with part of the lesson part. After church, we went to the other elders apartment and had lunch. We then had coordination and then went back home for a sec. We then went and had supper with the Speidel's. He's the bishop. It was fun. Bro McMurray picked us up after and we went home teaching with him to Sis Kaluzna. We then came home and had studies.

That was my week. It was crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. :)

Love,
Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 6

Well this week was interesting. Lots of craziness and random fun. :) It was a pretty great week.

Monday
We had P-day. Got a haircut from Sis Hardy. We then met the other zone at a park and played around. We had supper with Stewart's and Raaflaubs. We were supposed to go help the Lee's with their basement, but He wasn't home. We tried by some people and then tried back and he still wasn't home. We then tried some others.

Tuesday

We had to go into the office early that day for an audit. Passed I guess. :) Then we were just working on stuff their for the day. We had supper with the McMurray's. We then went to the Monteith's.

Wednesday

We were in the office again that day. We then left and had a lesson with the other Elders with Trish. She is a LA that was pretty sudden lesson. We then had supper with the Byam's. We then tracted and stopped by the Habing's for a bit.

Thursday

We had District Meeting in the morning. We then went on Splits with the Other Elder's. I was with Elder Low in the other area. We tried by some people, Tracted and then tried by some Part-members and Prospective elders. We then switch back at Raaflaubs for supper. We made home made pizzas :) We then did I don't know. I can't remember....

Friday

Well we did some planning we then went and taught Steve. He's a cool guy. Super willing to learn. Not much response from him though. We then had to go into the office again for a bit. We then left and tracted a bit, in the rain. :) We had supper with Carter's and then we went down to the church for Facebook. On the way home we met this guy who we had a cool conversation with. He is an Orthodox Christian and explained to us about what that is. It was cool.

Saturday

Well we had a lesson with Josue. We took a member from the YSA ward who speaks Portuguese. He didn't really help much... We found out more about his beliefs. He is Spiritus, which basically is a Christian who believes in Reincarnation. Strange... We then did mormon.org time. We went back to the bus station and met some girls from the Rutherford and Connor's Hill Ward. They were waiting for a friend they met the day before that is blind and wants to learn about the church. We then went into the mall and taught him a little bit more. He was previously taught by some YSA elders and that's where he is going to be taught. It was cool and random. We then had supper with the Woodruffs. We then just tracted.

Sunday

We had PEC in the morning and then we had church. We had lunch at the other Elder's place and then had coordination. We did some studies and then tried by some people and tracted till supper. We had supper with the Kastendieck's and then tried by some more people in between waiting for the buses.

Well that was my week. It's transfers and nothing is happening with us. It's going to by Elder Wilson and I to the end.

Love,
Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 5

Well this week seemed to go by pretty fast. Things are starting to pick up for us. It was a great week.

Tuesday

We had Pday. We shopped emailed. Had lunch and then went and played some basketball and frisbee. We had supper with the Piepgrass'. It was a pretty quick supper since they had to leave. We then tried by some people and then went to see the Raaflaub's. They needed some extra help.

Wednesday

We were in the office in the morning. We then went to the church for lunch before ZTM. We made homemade Poutine. :) It was good. Took some of Elder Dodson's Chilli Cheese dip and put it on top. It was more like Chili Chesse fries, but still good. ZTM was great too. Learned a lot. We then went on exchanges. I was going to be in Soutgate with Elder Liu. It was fun. We tracted a little bit before supper with the Byam's and Munsters'. Bro Byam was still in Red Deer that day, so Munsters' came over. We then tracted some more.

Thursday

We were in the office again that morning. We then took off for lunch. We ate and then exchanged back. We tracted for a bit and then had supper with the Bennett's. We then tried formers and tracted. Lots of tracting since we don't have munch going on.

Friday

We were in the office all day. We had to give up our temporary car today. We drove it to the office. Then some other elders took it since their car is getting sold. We were in the office that day and then to my surprise at the end of the day Elder Pratt asked as we were heading off, "would you elders like a car for the weekend?". I was sooooo excited. I wasn't ready to bus again. We then had supper with Draycott's. After supper we stopped by Justin Lee.

Saturday

Today was chaos. We got up and did the usual. We did a little planning and then had lunch with Tagalog. We then went on splits. Elder Wilson and Walker went and did a passover lesson in which we have a new investigator. Elder Ustare and I went tracting. We then waited for them and then when they finally came out we went on another split to passover Marcel to the Mt. Pleasant elders. Elder Dodson and I tried by some of their potentials and tracted. We then got back and we went to the stake center for the child of record baptism. We gave a little message as they were changing. We then went home and had supper. We then went to see one of Elder Wilson's and Elder Jackson's old investigators who was supposed to be in the hospital for a surgery. We drove up to the Royal Alex and she wasn't there. Finally got her number called her and she was home already. So we went to the Raaflaubs.

Sunday

We had ward council. We then had church. We were having lunch and then got a text that coordination was cancelled. We then had to pick up Elder Liu from the Whyte Ave chapel and bring him down to the Bearspaw chapel since they went on splits for ward councils. We then finished lunch and had studies. We then stopped by Josue and some others. We had supper with the St. Aubin's (St. O-bay). We then just tracted the rest of the night.

It was decent week. We've gotten some new potentials and new investigators. Things are picking up. It's great. :)

Love, Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 2

Well this week was very uneventful. I think it's going to be that way for a while.

Tuesday

We had p-day. We emailed, shopped and went to the church. We had supper with the Folston's. We then went and visited the Monteith's. They are a fun couple.

Wednesday

We did service at the Ronald McDonald house. We then went and had ZTM. Leaned a lot. We tried by some people and then had supper at the Byam's. We go there every Wednesday, so it's going to be fun. :) We then stopped by the Raaflaub's.

Thursday

We were in the office all day. We then had nothing that night. Nothing really exciting at all.

Friday

We were in the office again. We then had supper with the McMullin's. We then had another lesson at the Raaflaub's.

Saturday

We did weekly planning and then we tried some potentials and Less-actives. We had supper with the Raaflaub's and then we went and played soccer with Bro Lee. It was fun. Building a good relationship with him.

Sunday

We had Ward Council. Well Elder Low and I shovel the church while ward council was going on. We then had church and coordination. We had supper at the AP's apartment. We then were going to to a pass-over lesson with the YSA elders, but it fell through. We were all going to the same place for supper so we went on a sort of split. It was a bit of a disaster, but it worked out. We then had supper at the Hardy's with a bunch of the YSA. We then visited with Monir. Then went to the Habings.

It was a decent week. The office is getting better learning what I'm supposed to do. Week's are pretty boring, but still having fun. :)
Love, Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 4

Wow I almost forgot to write my weekly email. :) It was such a crazy week. It's been a long and eventful week too. Which is good. :)

Tuesday

Well we started the morning by going to the temple. :) It was great. We then had Pday. We emailed, shopped, then we went to a park for the last little bit. Elder Wilson played some soccer with his new cleats that he bought. I just took some pictures and tried to draw. We had supper with D and M Allred. There are two Allred's. They are brothers and live in the same house, one upstairs and one in the basement. I was confused for a bit too. It was fun. It then started raining and so we went home and got jacket and tried by some people.

Wednesday

We were in the office until lunch. We then went on exchanges. I went with Elder Bergeson and Elder Wu. They are the Mandarin Elders in the area. It was an interesting exchange. We just tried by some potentials. We had supper with some members in Lakewood ward. We then went to the last little bit of English class at the institute. We then taught Joyce. She is an investigator of theirs'. She has been difficult in the past. I tried to help as much as I could with only being able to speak English. They said I was helpful.

Thursday

We had District Meeting and exchanged back. We then went back to the office for a few hours. We went to help the Master's move some boxes which they thought were going to take an hour or so, but took like 10 minutes. ya.... We then went to Habing's and brought some stuff in for her and she gave us supper to take home. We then ate. We got called to go help some family move. We then went to the Raaflaub's for a quick lesson, making sure they were going to watch conference. We then tried by Justin, but he wasn't home so we did FB

Friday

Well we cleaned the apartment for a bit and then did our planning. We went out and tracted and found some new potentials. We then had supper with M and L Allred, which ended up being a huge sibling Easter dinner. I don't remember what else we did that night.

Saturday

GENERAL CONFERENCE! It was amazing. We watched the first session at the Stake Center. We then came back had lunch. We then went and met with Josue. We tracted into him yesterday. It was awesome. We went in and had a really good talk. Just quickly went through the restoration. We shared a card with Because He lives and asked him about it. He told us that one of his friends already sent him a Portuguese version before. It was awesome. He's really great. We then went to the Raaflaub's and watched the second session. We then had supper with them. Home-made Poutine. :) First time of home-made poutine. We then went to the Stake Center to watch Priesthood. It was all so good. :) We then went to DQ after.

Sunday

We went to the Bateman's for Breakfast and watched conference there. We then went home and had lunch. Mt. Pleasant came over. They got locked out of their apartment. We then went and watch the last session at the Stake Center. We then drove Mt. Pleasant home and then went to the Habing's for supper. They had an Easter supper with some friends. It was fun. Didn't do much the rest of the night. We went in and then the other elders called. One of the sisters in the ward called them for a blessing. They picked us up and we went over there. They dropped us off again and then Mt. Pleasant called us. They couldn't get into their apartment and the landlord was in Ontario. They ended up staying with us for the night.

Monday

We dropped Mt. Pleasant off at the Whyte Ave chapel and went to the office. We were meeting Tagalog North to switch them cars, since their car was called into the shop. We then had lunch with them at Subway. We then went tracting. We knocked the first house he was atheist and sick. We knocked the second house and ended up talking with the lady for an hour and half. It was fun. She actually lives in Slave Lake and was down visiting her mother. It was great. We then tracted for a bit more. We found a cool part of our area. It's right by the river and the houses are super nice. We then had supper by ourselves and then had FHE at a park up the road with the Raaflaub's.

It was a great week. Looking foward to this week too. :)
Not much time left, better getting working harder. :)

--

Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 3

Well this week was ok. Nothing really remarkable happened. It was still just a good week.

Monday

We had Pday. It was fun. We gave the Mt. Pleasant Elders a ride since they don't have a car. We did the usual, email, shop. We then went to the Millwoods Stake Center to play some games. We were told they were going to play soccer which got Elder Wilson excited, but when we got there they had the volleyball net set up. We ended up playing volleyball. It was a ton of fun. We had supper with Sis Fairbairn. It was great. She had one of the other Elder's investigators, Pat, over as well as Evlyn, who we are working with. It was a great supper. We then had FHE at the Raaflaub's.

Tuesday

We did studies at the office and were there all day. We had supper with the Habing's and then we were going to have a lesson with Kelly and Thomas, but they cancelled. :(

Wednesday

We had district meeting and lunch. We then went in to the office for the rest of the day. We were supposed to have supper with Byam's, but Bro Byam wasn't back from Red Deer yet. Sis Byam just gave us some money to go get something. We went to Soutgate mall and got New York Fries pulled pork poutine. Best stuff ever. :) We then had some money left and were going to get some DQ, but as we were walking over some kid working at one of the stores started walking and talking with us. He lives in Spruce Grove. It was random. He ended up buying the Ice Cream. It was cool. We then went and tried some people.

Thursday

We did studies at the office again and were there most of the day. Don't really remember what we did that night. Probably some stop-by's.

Friday

Well we were once again in the office for most of the day. We left a little early and went on exchanges. I went with Elder Duncanson to Bearspaw. It was fun. We went and checked Facebook. I went through some of my Heritage Tours pics of the church history sights with him. We then had supper with the Jones. Sis Jones is Bro Palmer's, from Londonderry, sister. It was crazy. We then did some tracting and tried by some people.

Saturday

Well we got up and did the usual. We were asked if we could come set up some chairs at the stake center at 11. We got there at about 10:50 and right as we are pulling into the parking lot, we get a text saying they were playing basketball in the gym so we couldn't set up chairs. We then drove back to the area and did the interview. We had lunch and then did Facebook and then tracted. It was a fun exchange. :) We then exchanged back at the office. We then tracted for a bit. We had supper and then went back out. We tracted some more. We then met the other elders at the office and planned out our portion of the 5th Sunday lesson we were giving.

Sunday

Well we got up and got ready to go to PEC and when we got to the church, no one was there. Since it was the 5th sunday they didn't have any meeting and no one told us. we just helped set up the chairs. We had church. For the 5th sunday lesson it was combined RS/Priesthood/Youth. It was talking about the Ward mission plan. Our part we talked about using Social Media. We also introduced #BecauseHeLives to the ward. We then had out lunch hour, but it was fast Sunday. :) We had coordination then did studies. We had supper at the Kastendieck's. Yes more Kastendieck's. I had to ask. They are brothers. :) They are a fun family, just like I thought they would be. We then were suppossed to have a lesson with Kelly and Thomas, but it fell through again. :P

Monday

Well we were in the office. We opened and closed. It was good. We had supper on our own and then we had FHE at Raaflaub's. :) It was a great night.

Well that was my week. We were able to go to the temple this morning which makes it all better. :D Excited for Conference :)
Love, Elder Colin O'Neill

Southgate Chapter 1

Well a new book of my mission. It's sure been a roller coaster of a week. Lots of new things. New area, new companion, new responsibilities. It's all sorts of fun. :)

Monday

Well we had P-day. We got everything done as quick as we could and then we went to the church and played some soccer. It was awesome. We had supper with the Rusnells. We then went and said goodbye to the O'Bray's and then the Olsen's.

Tuesday

We had a lesson with Nahia in the morning. It was a great last lesson. We then found a Fort McMurray pin. We then had lunch and packed. We went and saw Bud and Dan. We then stopped by some other people. We had supper at Goetz. We went to try and say goodbye to Fitzners, but they weren't home. We then went to Diggles.

Wednesday

We drove down for transfers. We then had transfers. It was hard to say goodbye. We then had to drive a car back to the office so we used to talk my stuff back to the apartment and to get some groceries. We then took it to the office. We then had supper with the Draycott's. We then went and visited with the Lowes.

Thursday

Well we had District Meeting. We then had lunch. Then we had an adventure. Both Elder McMullin and I's companions had to go to the District Leader meeting. Well we were both new to the area as of yesterday so we really didn't know where to go. We went and got on FB. I then got us close to our apartment and we tracted for a while. We then were going to stop by the apartment, but we didn't have keys. :( We then went to McDonald's and got a shake. The meet us there and we picked up supper from Sis Fairbairn. We then all had supper. We then went and stopped by a few people. We then met with Monir.

Friday

We had our first day in the office. Learn how to do referrals and entering baptism records. We had supper with the Carter's and then went and met the Raaflaubs.

Saturday

We did weekly planning and lunch. We went to see our investigator Monty and when we showed up he handed us back all of the books and dropped us. It was a sad day. We then went and met with the Arrisons. We then had supper with the Deppe's. We then had a baptism interview with some of the Zone Leaders investigators. They are sweet.

Sunday

We had PEC. Elder Low and I just sat outside. We then had church. We had lunch at the AP's apartment. We then met with a few people. We were supposed to have a lesson with some investigators with Bro Henday, but they weren't home. We took him to some other people and finally got a lesson with Marseille. He is from Rwanda. He is awesome. At the end of the lesson he said "I think I understand prophets now". It was awesome. We then had supper with the Munoz. They are fun. We then stopped by some people.

Monday

We were in the office all day. I was learning financial stuff. We then stopped by the Raaflaub's to help move their daughter move out, but they didn't come. We then had supper with the Cahoon's. We then went back to the Raaflaub's and had FHE. It didn't end well. Got a migraine. Not a fun night. Great night sleep though. :)

Well that was my week. It was a roller coaster, but it's going to be fun.
Love, Elder Colin O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 24 final chapter in this area!!!

Well it looks like it's the end of the road for here. I'm getting transferred to Southgate Ward in Edmonton. It will be an interesting experience. My new companion Elder Wilson and I will also be working in the office. One of the office couples is finishing their mission and there is no one to replace them yet, so we will be filling in. It will be different. Now for the rest of my week.

Monday

We had P-day and then had supper with Christine and the Lamoureux's. It was fun. We went and said goodbye to the Schmidt's and Grant's. Sr. Bro Schmidt is moving back to Idaho. Jr. Bro Schmidt is moving back to Virginia and at least Sis Grant is going back home to South Africa. We then went over to see the Jackson's.

Tuesday

I don't remember what we did. :) I think we just tracted and tried potentials. We had supper at the Irmen's. We then went on exchanges. Elder Walker came with me. :) We went and stopped by some people and then we went to see the Roy's and say goodbye. :)

Wednesday

Elder Walker stayed over night and the other Elders came in the morning to exchange back. We had a lesson in the morning with Malinda. Sis Beaulne and Fitzner came with us. Great lesson. She is just super busy. We finished studies and had lunch. we didn't have much that day either. We picked up supper from the Eric's. We went back and ate, then went and saw LA Olsen's. We had a good chat with them. I enjoy them a lot. :) We then went to the BFC Bible study again. It was great and a lot of great people. :)

Thursday

We had District Meeting and then lunch. We had the rest of the food from Eric's. We then tried by Mihaly, but he wasn't home. We then changed and drove out to Anzac. We all got haircuts and then had supper with Kidd's. I'm going to miss them. We then came back and had a lesson with Diana. It went pretty well. :)

Friday

We did Weekly Planning we also cooked a really good lunch. Chicken with roasted veggies. :) Best cooking I've done so far. :) We then went and did Facebook. We then just tried some people. Don't really remember. 

Saturday

It was a long day of tracting and potentials. We had supper with Diggle's and then went and saw the Simpson's. 

Sunday

It was a pretty good day. We had Ward Council and church. It was pretty good. Mihaly came and we talked to him a bit afterwards. We were talking in the chapel and Bro Fitzner came in and just remarked it was nice to see him and told him that what he was feeling was the spirit and this is where he was supposed to be. He started crying. Mostly it was Elder Merica and Walker in that conversation, but it was still really powerful. We then went home had lunch. We went and tried by some potentials. We had supper with the Beaulne's. Then tried people the rest of the night. 

Well that was my week. Forgot my planner so the details are a little spotty. Going to miss Fort McMurray, but that's life as a missionary. :)

Love, Elder O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 23

Dear Family and friends,
Wow. This week was a bit crazy. We were in Edmonton for almost 3 days and then just trying to catch up and meet with people who aren't home. :( It was interesting.:)

Monday

Well we did as much as we could. We emailed and did laundry and packed then headed to Edmonton. Elder Nielson drove to Grasslands then gave me the keys so he could sleep. I drove to Fort Saskatchewan and we had Mucho Burrito for supper then drove to the Mission Home. Stayed over night with St. Paul. :)

Tuesday

We had interviews with President. We then had Zone Conference. It was great learned a lot. :) We then ran to the office, because the other Elder's were getting a different car. Still a subaru, but just a different one. We then drove to the temple. It was so amazing. It felt great to be able to go. :)

Wednesday

Well we got up and went to Generations Bookstore and then to this book binding place. It was pretty cool. They do custom book binding. Looks awesome. Made me laugh a little too. Their main customers are the Elders and the JW's. :) We then grabbed lunch at Wendy's, drove to the north side, filled up and then headed out. The whole time I was driving in Edmonton. Elder Neilson drove to Grasslands again and then Elder Merica finished the drive. We had supper with Nate and Bailey, then we went and visited the Roy's. 

Thursday

We had District Meeting and then we went to see Bud and Dan. We are trying to get them to church. :) Hopefully. We then went out to the Kidd's for supper. We got a picture of the temple for them to help them remember their goal to get back to the temple. 

Friday

We had Weekly Planning and then lunch. We did mormon.org time and then we went and tried potentials. We had supper with the Lamoureux's and then tried some more potentials. 

Saturday

We did studies and lunch. We then went and saw Bud and Dan. Trying to work out details for getting them to church. Doesn't look like it's going to happen. We then tried some potentials. We had a lesson with LA Olsen's with Bro O'Bray. There is some progress with them. We then had supper with Bro Turner at Mucho Burrito. :) We then went and tried some people and then went and visited the Simpson's with Bro Swainson. Invited them to church. The kids were already going to come. Bro Simpson is probably coming next week since it most likely will be my last week. 

Sunday

Well we had church. The whole Simpson family, except Bro Simpson, came as well as Bro Kidd. It was awesome. :) Testimony meeting was really powerful. There were a lot of tears and emotions. We were trying to get Nahia to come and we are sort of glad she didn't. She has a hard time when people bear their testimony with an accent and when people cry. Well everyone that had an accent bore their testimony and lots of people were fighting back tears. :) It was really powerful though. We had coordination and then changed stopped by some people and then tracted. We had supper with the Stewarts. We then went and met with Eddy. He is awesome and super willing to learn. He told us that he has been getting some resistance about trying to read the Book of Mormon, but he still wants to find out what we are about. :) He is so sincere. We then just tried some other people.

It was a good week. A little low on the investigators, but that's Fort McMurray. :) :( I don't know which one. haha :)

Well hope everyone has a good week. Don't have much time left so I got to get working hard. :)

Fort Mac Chapter 22

Wow so last week wasn't very exciting. This week is already starting off more exciting. We are heading down to Edmonton for a Zone Conference, Interviews and Temple trip. :)

Tuesday

Well we had p-day. We had supper with the Goetz, Blackmore and Christine. It was pretty good. In the middle of it the other elders had a call for a referral from a lady down in Lethbridge. It was actually in our area so Elder Walker handed me the phone. It was pretty cool. That is an overarching story of the week. :) We then tried some Less-actives. 

Wednesday

Well we did studies then we went and visited with Bud and Dan. Had a good conversation with Dan and then talked with Bud. We then drove out to Saprae. We drove out there and found a street to tract. We went to park and the truck slid off and got stuck. Luckily someone saw us go in and drove home to get some tow straps. Got out no problems. :) He was awesome. We then tracted somewhere else. We were walking down and this car was stopped at the next drive way. They were waiting for us. This guy asked if we had any pamphlets. He was heading to the Philippines and was going to be wearing some dress clothes and didn't want to get robbed so he wanted to look like he was handing out religious stuff. Hopefully someone in the Philippines gets baptized from it. Or him. :) It was interesting. We then had supper with Tagg's. We then just did some visits. 

Thursday

We had district meeting then lunch. We just tracted for a bit. We went out to the Kidd's for supper and to help them. We then came back and tried some people.

Friday

Well we did Weekly Planning, lunch, then mormon.org. time. We stopped by a few people and tracted. We had supper. We then were supposed to meet with Mihaly. He is the referral. It was quite a process. We have been trying by his apartment, calling him, Dale (the apartment owner who referred us) was in constant contact with us and him trying to figure out how we could meet. It was quite an ordeal. We were supposed to meet with him, but he wasn't home. We just tried by some other people. We then had a lesson with Diana. It went ok. She is having a struggle with one of her friends. Which affected the lesson. 

Saturday

We did the usual. We then tracted just about all day. We saw Bobby D and talked with him. We then had a lesson with LA Olsen's and the Diggles. It was great. They wanted to meet with some converts. :) We ended up having to leave and left them there talking for a little while longer. We ran and met with the Simpsons. We just had a really good talk about how we can help them. It was a good night after a long day. 

Sunday

Well we had ward council, church and coordination. We had lunch, then tracted and tried by some people. We had supper with Galenzoski's. We then ran and finally met with Mihaly. He is so prepared. He lost his job and Dale, his landlord, didn't want to kick him out, but just wanted to try and help him. He sent us over to see if there was anything we could do for him. He was actually prepared for the job loss. He was telling us that he kept having promptings when he was going shopping to buy extra because something bad is going to happen. Well he lost his job and was taken care of, but then the emotional kicked in. We went over and he started the conversation about the gospel. He is a really great genuine guy. 

Well that was my week. The main story was Mihaly. He was being prepared to hear the gospel and I can't wait to see what will happen. :) Dale also has a friend that he wants us to meet. Dave O'Neill. He feels like their might be some family connection. We'll see how that goes or even if I ever meet him. I might be leaving Fort Mac soon, but I don't know. I don't want to leave, but if that's God's plan then I will have to.

Hope everyone is having a great week. Until next week. :)

Love, 

Elder Colin O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 21

Wow this week was crazy. I don't even hardly know where to start.

Monday

Well It was Pday. Did the usual and then had supper with the other Elders. WE then tried some people in Gregoire. 

Tuesday

Well we did the usual tracting and potentials. We went on splits with the Zone leaders that night. I was with Elder Waddoups. We stopped by Nahia and actually set up a return appointment with her. It was a miracle. :) Haven't talked to her in two months. We then all had supper with the Schmidt's and Grants. It was a lot of fun. We then tried by a few people. We were able to get in and talk with Eddy for a bit. He is a really cool guy. More about him later. 

Wednesday

Well they were doing some things for our apartment so we had to be out of there by 9. We went over to the Fitzner's and did studies and had lunch. Well with the wind it was -45 so we couldn't go out. We stayed at the Fitzners for a while. The other elders were having some problems with their apartment and so the Zone leaders stayed with us that day. We had supper with Sis Kidd and then we went to the Bikers for Christ Bible study. Eddy is a part of it and invited us to go. He was totally shocked when we showed up. It was really awesome. They are really great and Eddy has told us since that they really enjoyed us coming. :)

Thursday

Well the Zone Leaders took off early early that morning to drive back. We did the usual and then had district meeting. We went to a great place for lunch. Freshii. The owner is one of the bikers. :) It was soo good. We then tried by some people and then went out to the Kidd's. Helped them and had supper. We then hurried and drove back to meet with Diana. :) It was a pretty great lesson. She got a little fired up when we were talking about fast offerings, but she feels the same. It's not a hand-out, but a hand up (Bro Fitzner). It went well. 

Friday

We did Weekly Planning and then we went and did Facebook. We then went and visited with Bud and Dan. We then tried by some people and tracted. We had supper with Lockhorst's and then went with Bro Lockhorst to see LA Olsen's. It was a great lesson and felt like it actually went somewhere. :)

Saturday

We had a lesson with Nahia!!! Like I said earlier we haven't seen her since the beginning of December. She went to Edmonton for Christmas and then got busy with school and it's been a struggle to connect with her. We went in not really sure of what to expect and it seems like nothing was different. It seemed more like we haven't seen her in a week than in two months. She stopped reading the Book of Mormon, just because she was busy. We recommitted her to reading and praying. She is so prepared still. :) We then had lunch at Fitzner's. Bobby D was supposed to come, but didn't. We went and stopped by his new place. He had to move into town so we can see him more. We stopped by and talked with him for a bit and are reteaching him the lessons. We then ran home to get a progress record and ended up talking with one of our neighbors. He is Muslim and we had a good talk. He's open to talking, but not sure where it's going to go. We had supper with Pickett's and then we went and dropped off the progress record. We then went and met with Simpson's and Bro Swainson. Their trip sounded like a lot of fun, but not much has changed with them.

Sunday

Well we had Ward Council and Church. It was cool since it was High Council Sunday, one of the High Councilmen came up. It was Bro Johnston from Londonderry. It was great to see him. :) We then had a Linger Longer Pot-luck. Ya Food. We went and tracted and then we had supper at Beaulne's. We then went and met with Eddy. He's awesome and so willing to learn more. :) We then were going to go see the Francis family, but they were busy so we went to the Roy's. 

Monday

It was Family Day and since most people were going to have work off pday was changed. Well we spent most of the day tracting and not finding much success. We had supper with Fitzner's and had a really good talk with Sis Fitzner. :) We stopped by the Francis' again, but he wasn't home. 

Well that was my week. A bit of a Gong show, but I managed. :) Still alive and still smiling. :D

Love, 

Elder O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 20

Wow this week was a really slow and boring week. :P Every lesson we had set up fell through. It was a long week of tracting and potentials.

Monday

P-day. We then had supper at Sis Beech's. We then went over and had milkshakes at the Lamoureux's. 

Tuesday

We did studies and tried some people downtown. We were supposed to have a lesson with Dwayne, but he wasn't home. Dropped. Can't keep setting up appointment and having him not be home. We then had a lesson with Dan and Bud. Don't know how promising Dan is really going to be. We then just tracted and tried potentials. We picked up supper from Soares and ate at the other elders apartment. We then tried by more po's and then went with Bro Lockhorst to see LA Olsen's. It was actually a really good lesson. Bring members to everything. :)

Wednesday

Studies, tracting and po's, mormon.org time, tracting. We had supper with McAteer's :). We then tracted more and then went and visited Roy's with Bro Olsen. It was more of a visit, but still great to bring a member.

Thursday

District Meeting. Elder Walker baked some bread. We then went home and grabbed a little bit of food and then went out to the Kidds. Helped them with wood and changing spark plugs and had supper and talked about getting Bro Kidd to church. 

Friday

We did weekly planning. We had lessons set up with Mark, Georgina, and Marius and Carina. We texted Sis Landrum the night before to confirm that they could still come and she told us that Marius and Carina were going to be in Edmonton and had to cancel. We texted Mark to see if he was still good and he was going to be busy with the doctors and couldn't keep the appointment. We got to Georgina and were waiting for Sis Fitzner and Montoya. Sis Fitzner showed up and was just going to go inside. Georgina forgot we were coming and was still in her pajama's and wanted to reschedule. Another day of tracting. :P We had supper with Diggle's and then tried potentials.

Saturday

After lunch we went and grabbed some shovels from the church. We got dumped on the night before. We shoveled the church sidewalks and then went and shovelled some LA's, Investigators and Potentials driveways. Some we knew were gone and we wanted to shovel it so they didn't have to worry about it when they got back. :) So 5 or so hours later of shoveling snow, we took supper. We then tried by some people. 

Sunday

We had Ward Council. We then had church. Mike (Bro Beck's co-worker) and his wife Krista came to church. They are pretty much new investigators. :) It was awesome. We then had coordination. We had a small lunch, tried by a few people and then went to supper at Aulenbach's with the Lamb's. Elder Neilson and I went on a quick exchange since the other elders had a lesson with some one in our area. We ran back to the apartment since I forgot a toque and then tried by some people. We exchanged back and tried some LA's. 

It was a really slow week and I hope that this week will go better. I know it will. It's going to be hard to get worse. :D

Love, Elder O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 19

Well this week was interesting for sure. Lots of changes and surprises. Well I'll start with we got a new car. I don't know really why they switched our newer Chevy Equinox out, but we now have a brand new Chevy Colorado. Yep I'm driving a truck. :)

Monday

Well it was transfers. Everything with us stayed the same. Elder Kriesel was transferred. We did the normal p-day stuff. We ran to our apartment with Bro Fitzner so he could do an apartment inspection. We then went back and had supper. We then went and saw the LA Olsen's. 

Tuesday

We were doing studies and we got a call from Bro Beck if we could help chip some ice. We went and helped clear off Lokhorst's driveway, where his mother lives. He then took us out for lunch. Bangers and Mash. :) It was super good. We then went and did FB. We then went and tracted into Michael, a friend of Bro Beck's. He was cool and said we could come back. We then tracted a bit. We then stopped by Davis' and got in and talked with them for a bit. :) We then had to run to supper with Rivers. We then went to Jackson's. Pretty good day. 

Wednesday

We did studies, lunch, and mormon.org time. We then went to go meet with one of the pastors at the Family Christian Centre, but when we went the doors were all locked. Lights are on but nobody's home. :) We then tracted and tried potentials. We stopped at Fitzner's to warm back up for a bit. We then had supper with Montoya's. We then went and visited with the Roy's and did the 21 day challenge with them. 

Thursday

We had District Meeting and lunch. We then tried by some people. Bro Fitzner asked if we could come fill out some new and returning member forms and hellp paint. well we weren't dressed to paint so we changed and then came back and filled out the papers and had to leave. :P We then went out to the Kidd's. We had supper with them. We then went and met with Diana. She is doing soo well. She committed to pray to know if what we are teaching her is true. She was telling us that she needs to pray about one thing, but now we are asking her to pray about something and which one is most important. We told her, pray for both. There is not a limit to the prayers or questions to be prayed about. :) It was awesome. 

Friday

We did Weekly Planning. We then did Facebook. We then had a lesson with Mark with Bro Schmidt. It was a good lesson. Mark is doing really well. We then just tracted. We had supper with Christine and then tried by some other people. 

Saturday

We did studies and lunch. We went to the church and created a list of short verses that we can give to people to read from the Book of Mormon. We then just tracted....all day. Tract for a bit, get in the car, warm up, go back out. :P It's crazy how many people are just simply not here. We had supper at the Pickett's. We then went and visited with Bro Olsen about the challenge and then the Stewarts.

Sunday

We had church. It was really good. Elder's Quorum has been interesting the last couple of weeks. gets way off topic. We then tried by people. We had supper at Mackay's and then went to visit Beaulne's and then Schmidt/Grants. It was a pretty good day. We got home and had sort of planned, when the other elders called. The northern lights were out so we went out to see them. It was sweet. :)

Well that was my week. Not much happened. Where did the people go? Oh well, that's life. :)

--
Elder Colin O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 18

Wow this week has been a roller coaster. Got some new investigators and some dropped us. :( That's how it goes.

Monday

We had p-day then we had supper with Spirig's. We then visited with the Kidd's. 

Tuesday

We did studies and then went and did mormon.org time. We tried some people and then went on exchanges. I was with Elder Kriesel. We went tracting for a bit. We had supper at Sis Beech's with the Sosa's. We then went and talked with McPherson's about being a fellow-shipper. 

Wednesday

We came and did Facebook, then lunch. We printed some stuff off at the church and then tracted. We exchanged back and went and did some more tracting. We had supper at Sister Kidds. We then went to the Roys and one of the boys taught us a couple of the PMG lessons. It was pretty good. We then left the phone there. So when we got back up to the apartment we didn't have the phone and had to drive back over. :)

Thursday

We had District meeting and lunch. We then tried some people that we had set up lessons with, but they weren't home. We then tracted and found some great new potentials. We then picked up supper from O'Bray's and then we drove out to the Kidd's. 

Friday

We did weekly Planning. We got a call from Bobby D. We met him for lunch and at the end Bro Fitzner showed up. We ended up going up to Fitzners for a bit and talking. we then had a lesson with Marius and Carina. We tracted into them a little while ago. They live upstairs from Landrums. It's the perfect situation. :) We then, awkwardly enough, had supper with Landrums. We told them about how things went. We then went and had a lesson with Diana. She is progressing so well. 

Saturday

Well we got a call Friday from Grandma Jean and tried to call her back. She called us again and we set a time to see her that day. We went with Bro Fitzner and we challenged her to fast for an answer. :) We then went with Bro Fitzner to see Bud and Dan. Dan wasn't feeling well so we went and visited with Bud. We then drove up to the church to catch some people at new beginnings. We then went and tried some potentials. We had supper at Fitzner's. Bobby D was going to the hockey game that night with them, and wanted us to go. We can only go if there is a non-member. We were busting our but to get a non-member, but no one could. We did have a lesson with Prince at the Afrane's. It was pretty good. He might finally understand what the Book of Mormon is now. :) It was awesome to have it in their home. 

Sunday

We went to church and then had coordination. We then went back to Grandma Jean. She said that she knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that if Joseph Smith translated the book, then he must be a prophet. She wouldn't give a clear answer on whether this was the church she should join. We tried to commit her to a date, but she felt pushed. So we left it at that. We had supper with MacPherson's. We then followed up with the Galenzoski's. We then went to the Family Christian Centre. It was interesting. The other elders were invited and we all went. We got invited back and might go one day to talk with one of the pastors. :) As we were leaving Grandma Jean called. She didn't like how we pushed her and dropped us. :( It was a little heart-breaking. She will accept the gospel one day. Maybe not in this life, but someday. 

Well that was my week. Ups and Downs.

Love,

Elder O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 17

to Family, Garrett, me, My, Regan, Regan Wow this week was a lot of fun and really just a great week. :D Monday We did the normal P-day stuff. Emailed, shopped, did laundry and played games. :) We didn't have a supper. Sis Fitzner offered, but we were going over there on Wednesday so we really didn't know. Well it wasn't much of an option. We had supper with Fitzners and then went and saw Olsen's. We then tried some potentials.  Tuesday Well we did our studies and lunch. We then went to see Grandma Jean. We went with Sis O'Bray and Shannon. It was a pretty great lesson. We thought she might be ready for the baptism invitation again, but clearly not. Don't know how much longer we will be teaching her. We then went and saw Bud and Dan. It wasn't much of a lesson with them. Bud is forgetting a lot and doesn't remember he has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. We then went and did Facebook. We then waited for a bit until the zone leaders made it. We had supper with them and then went on exchanges. I was with Elder Christensen. It was cool to be with him. He was my MTC comp. We've both changed so much it's awesome. :) We stopped by a few potentials. We actually got in with Gerald and Eileen. It was a good lesson. We taught them briefly about the restoration. We are going back this week to see them again. :) Wednesday We did our studies and lunch. We then decided to go exploring a little bit and went to check out Saprae Creek. It's a cool place. It's a little community with big lots. Found one potential. We then drove back to meet with Mark. We talked to him and introduced the Plan of Salvation. We then tried by some potentials and tracted. We then had supper at Fitzner's. 32 oz challenge. :) :P I'll lay it out for you. You start with an Ice Cream bar (palette cleanser), 32oz or more steak with potatoes, corn, salad, and at least 2 buns. Once that is done you eat another palette cleanser then dessert. "If you can still see the dessert, there isn't enough whipped cream." Dessert covered in whipped cream and one final palette cleanser. :) I did it. We each had a 36oz steak. Elder Waddoups actually had a 39 oz. steak. 4.4 lbs in an hour. :P It's done. I made it. :) Later that night we went to see the Tagg's.  Thursday We had studies and then we went out for lunch with the zone leaders. We went to Mucho Burrito. We then went back and had District Meeting. We went back and were going to make calls until they were done with their lesson, but their lesson fell through so we left earlier for Anzac. We went and all got haircuts from Sis Spirig at their new salon. It's nice. we then had supper with Kidds. It was a great lesson. We talked with Bro Kidd about the tea and smoking. He put it all together himself that if he stops drinking the tea, it will help with the smoking. :) We also gave him a blessing and it was a special one. Really strong Spirit there.  Friday We did Weekly Planning. We stopped by Gabriel and set up a lesson. We tracted a bit and then went to the church for the Follow-up training meeting. It was interesting it was a video conference. The only downside was that it started an hour late. :P It was good. Interesting doing it over video chat. We then made some calls and picked up supper from Irmen's. Bro Irmen wasn't back from Edmonton yet. We then had a lesson with the Schmidt's and the Grants. It was great and very funny. :) Saturday Well we had a really good day. We did some studies then went and visited McAteer's. We then came home and finished studies and lunch. We then did quick FB time. We then had a lesson with Dan and Bud with Bro Fitzner. It was great. Reestablished that we are going to come and teach. We missed our lesson with Gabriel. We tracted and then vistited with the Landrums. We then had supper with the Sosa's. We got a lot of food. Landrums gave us some extra pizzas, and Sosa's gave us their junk food. :P. We then went and visited the Simpsons. Sunday Well we had ward council. It was High Council Sunday. We kind of got the ward in trouble for not writing the fellow shippers on the progress record. We then had church and coordination. We then had a lesson with Mark with Bro Schmidt. It was a great lesson. We taught the Plan of Salvation and Mark prayed at the end. His first prayer. :D We then tried by someone and went home to change. We tracted for a bit and had supper at Beaulne's with Nortons. It was great. We then tried some potentials and got in with Kenny. He has been around for a while, but finally let us in. Had a good talk with him. We then went and saw LA Olsen's. She is reading the Book of Mormon again. They have some strange views, but hopefully we can help them some how. Well that was my week. Things are going well. :D Love,  Elder O'Neill

Fort Mac Chapter 16

To family and friends, Wow this week was a bit crazy! We are on Facebook now. :) :P :(   I don't really know how to feel about it. It's a complicated process of trying to clean up my page. :P Monday We had pday. While we were doing laundry the other elders came over to Fitzners and we played games. We then had supper with Swainson's.  Tuesday We did the normal. We tried by Nahia and she wasn't home. Wish we could connect with her again. Grandma Jean had to cancel. We went over to the other elders to talk about some stuff. We then went and helped Bro Swainson create a mormon.org profile. We then came home and had supper. We then went and visited with Bro Rich for a while.  Wednesday We did studies and lunch. We then went and did mormon.org. We then just tried potentials and stuff all day. We visited with the Paynes to extend our 21 Day missionary challenge. We are doing a challenge with all of the members that if they will write down a list of friends or lessactives, pray morning and night about each of them and read a scripture on the sheet we give them, in 21 days that someone they know will be ready to accept the missionary lessons. :) It's an awesome challenge. We had supper at Nortons. We then visited with Sis Roy for a bit.  Thursday We drove down to Edmonton, stopped at the mission office, grabbed lunch at Wendy's, went to ZTM about Facebook, filled up, grabbed supper at Burger King and then drove home. Long Day. Friday We did some weekly planning. We then tried a whole list of potentials. We also tried to call some members to set up appointments. We had supper with Jackson's. We then had a lesson with Diana. It went great. She told us that she is starting to have faith in God. It's a great step for her. She is doing great.  Saturday We did studies and then lunch. We then went to our first time on FB. I was cleaning up my profile while Elder Merica created his. We then went and saw Bud and Dan. Finally resolved any issues with his computer....I hope. We then stopped by a few more potentials. We had supper out at Graves. We then stopped by the Roys again, but they were going out. We then went to the Simpsons and had a heart to heart. We were pretty blunt with them. It was a good visit. Sunday Well we had Ward Council. It was a little boring for us. It was a lot of ward stuff for the new year. We had church and coordination. W then came back for lunch. We then went and met with Prince for a bit. It was a really good lesson. He is just going  through some hard times and needs some support. We then went and had supper with Galenzoski's.We then went and had a lesson with the Diggles. We were extending the challenge. The other elders extended the part of praying for us by name the other night. They said they laughed at it. They were like, "We already do." :) They are so great. :) Well that was my week. Just have to keep going. New things everyday. :) Love, Elder O'Neill