Tofield Chapter 15

WOW. I can't even describe the emotional rollercoaster that I've been on this past week. At least through the ups and downs I was able to really learn some valuable things about myself.

Tuesday

We emailed then had lunch. We went and mowed the lawn at the Fishers trailer, until the mower died. We did a lot, before it did. We had super at Pillings and played around with some goats.

Wednesday

That was a crazy day. We met with so many people. Veg Day. We went to Veg after lunch and met with Sis Yost, Meggie, Shirley w/ Bro Gillis, had supper and met with Thompson's then Roy and Crystal. It was a packed day.

Thursday

We had District Meeting. We were going to have lunch at Kelly's, but Kelly wasn't feeling good so they were closed. We traveled back and had lunch. We did Mormon.org time stopped by some people. We had supper and then went to Trent and Khristina's.

Friday

That morning we went and were helping the Pilling's put wood on their barn so they can put tin siding on. It was at Pilling's when I got the call from President Manion. I am so grateful for them. Right after the phone call, we were talking things over and Bro Pilling decided that we should go inside for a bit to take a break. I'm so grateful for the members out here. They care about us and what is going on. We helped them for a while and then came home. We had supper at Gillis' and then had Weekly planning.

Saturday

We went to Chipman and met with Bro Kronebusch. We then helped sell hot dogs and chili at the Veg street Market for the Vegreville Transportation Services Society. It was cool and we were able to met a lot of people and see some that we knew. We then had supper at Chuck and Mary's.

Sunday

We had church then coordination. We went to the Cahoon's for supper. We went and talked with Daniel. There was the worldwide indexing challenge starting Sunday night and the youth were getting together at the Church to do it together. We had just stopped in at the church to go to the bathroom and we ended up staying and I was helping some of them with their batches. It was fun.

Monday

Well we actually got up a bit early and Daniel took us to the new gym in town. It was good, but I'm still not big into working out. My abs are sore from it. We went home and relaxed/ did laundry. I was able to work on one of my songs and I have been able to write out the note, rhythm and chords for the first two lines of the song. It was pretty incredible to me. That afternoon we played basketball. We had supper at Sis Roughley's with the younger Tiedemann's. It was good. We were there for FHE and Sis Tiedemann showed us a cool way to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was so cool. It was an object/ story line lesson. She let me borrow it and I made my own version of most of it last night. (thanks mom for the art skills)

Well that was my week. Like I said a lot of ups and downs and really learning about myself.

I want anyone who reads this to know that I know that we have a Heavenly Father. He is watching out for us. He is always there to listen to our prayers and will give us the strength and comfort to get through the hard things in our lives. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and through the Atonement we can overcome the pains and trial and sicknesses and any other distress in our lives. I know that the Holy Ghost is the messenger from the Father and is able to feel safe and protected if we let him into our lives. We can make it through anything in our lives if we stay close to the Godhead. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Colin O'Neill

P.S. from Mom--Things he shared with me that let me know he is a very strong young man. and strong in his faith of the Savior Jesus Christ. No matter what I know he will finish his mission honorably until next summer.

From Elder O'Neill-- I just wanted to make sure that you were ok? Friday night was hard, but I learned things that I hadn't know before. Things that I hadn't realized about myself. Don't worry about me. I made the decision when I first came out that I would stick through it to the end. NO MATTER what happened. I couldn't have expected what has happened, but with the Lord's help we are able to go through anything. That night I was writing a letter about the situation to Regan. I was getting my feelings out. As I was writing different scriptures were going through my mind that I didn't realize that I knew. Those scriptures are very familiar ones, but I was able to understand them much more clearly. Especially Helaman 5:12. "Now my sons remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation where on if men build they cannot fall." That scripture hit me hard. I was upset and shocked and worried, but I was still able to have a smile on my face through the day. It truly is through Christ that all things are possible. We don't have to feel alone or saddened when we are close to him.

From Elder O'Neill-- I feel like at times that I have been put through harder experiences than some people that I know. I sometimes wonder why and then I know it's because I can handle it. We can handle it. Mom it's because of you and Dad. You both taught the three of us how to deal with life. Thank you

Tofield Chapter 14

Holy Cow, this week was just crazy. I'm almost a wreck from it. It had a lot of ups and downs. It was quite an adventure.

Tuesday

Well we emailed and then had lunch. We went and helped out at Busy B and then went to Ryley. We tried by our only potential and found out she isn't much of a potential. We then tracted that street. We then were driving to find another street to tract. We turned the corner and I couldn't tell if we had tracted that street yet then I saw that it was the Svensons's street and that we had. We decided to stop by the Svensons and talk with them for a bit. It was good. It was hot outside and I think we all could have used the break. We then went and had Supper with Gillis'. We then went and visited with Daniel for the rest of the night.

Wednesday

Wow that was a crazy day. We did the new usual, then left for Sherwood park for ZTM. It was fun. To start off with before the actual meeting we had a zone lunch and played Mafia. It was really interesting. We then had ZTM. It was good. We then right after when on exchanges. I was going to be with Elder Reynolds in my area. Well during ZTM I got a text from Sis Stennes needing some help. So we took off and went out there. to help them. We were helping them take some windows off of the trailer and it started raining. It was big rain drops. It was too hard to continue so we jumped in the truck. A few moments later it started to hail. It was crazy. First 4 people in a 3 person truck. I was on Elder Reynolds lap and then it was hailing. What and adventure. We then had pizza with them. We then went into Veg and visited with Chuck and Mary.

Thursday

Veg Day. We stopped by some people in Veg, more to invite them to the branch BBQ. We were supposed to exchange back at 1 from what we were told. So we took lunch and then drove to Chipman to exchange back. Along the way I showed Elder Reynolds the local landmarks. We got there and waited for a bit and they still weren't there. We called and then texted back and said we were exchanging at 4. We had to hurry and run to Tofield for an appointment. We picked up Bro Gillis and went to meet with Ronnie. She is the blind lady that I think I mention a few weeks ago. We finally met with her. She is really awesome. She is really eager to learn more. What we taught her made since to her. We helped to answer a lot of her questions. She had a lot that were relatively easy to answer, but were concerns for her. It was a super lesson. We then took off and went to exchange back. We went to the Hillyer's for supper. They were great. They had a Birthday cake for me. Pres Hillyer said he got a text from Ann Marie about my birthday. :) It was great. We then went and met with the Roe's. They are a crazy hyper family. We then went to Trent and Khristina's. When we got there they were trying to catch one of the horses. It was interesting to watch. We then visited with them for a bit before we had to come home.

Friday

So I love looking at my planner for this day. I colored the edges orange, so it stands out. Well we were around the apartment most of the morning. We decided we need to clean up a bit, before Bro Fisher came to check out apartment, which he still hasn't come. :) We then had lunch and weekly planned. We did Mormon.org. and then tried by some people. We talked with Sis Comaniuk for a bit and then tracted. We had supper with the Kastendiecks and that was crazy. We had Lasagna. They also had sparkling cider. Well so we were eating. Bro Kastendieck went to start cutting the second pan of Lasagna and saved Sam Cahoon's glass from tipping over, but in the process knocked mine onto my plate and all over the table and my lap. Sis Kastendieck was freaking out a little bit. I was just laughing. It was still really good. We then went and played basketball with the Kastendieck and some of their friends.

Saturday

Veg Day.

Well it started with the Branch BBQ. It was pretty good. Dante (Kastendiecks' friend) was the only non-member for a while. Well towards the end Shirley and Moki came. Well it was also right at the point that everyone was packing up to go to the pool to go swimming. It was a pretty big bummer. We were upset. It was a chance for people to met our investigators and they didn't really stay to talk with them. We then went and talked with Soren for quite a while actually. We then went and were going to stop by Anthony, then Chuck called. We went over there and they ended up taking us to dinner again. It wasn't the best Chinese food I've ever had. Still they are great. :)

Sunday

We had Branch Council and we were able to take a fair bit of time talking about the people that need the most help that we are working with. We then had church. We went home and had lunch and studies. We then went to the Fisher's for supper. Well it was also the whole Woodruff Family. I mean from a family of 8 kids, 5 of the kids were there with their kids. Crazy. It was still fun. We then tried some potential. We then went to Carol's and talked with her for a while.

Monday

Well Pday was pretty boring. We didn't do much until the afternoon. We went shopping and did laundry. We then went to the Church. I was playing piano for a bit, while Elder Laulu was playing basketball and rugby by himself. We then got a text from Sis Kastendieck inviting us over for a water fight with the Hillyer girls. It was a lot of fun. They had a little inflatable pool. We did not get in the pool, but got wet enough if we would have. :) It was a ton of fun. We had supper by ourselves. Afterwards we were trying to figure out what to do. I texted a bunch of potentials and formers and LA and other random people in the phone. The rest of the night and continuing on we get quite a spectrum of responses. Some are pretty funny. We had one LA that was confused at how we had his number. He texted us no thanks, then called us and asked how we got his number. We told him it was just on the branch directory. "I've never even gone to the Church in Tofield." Oh the joys of people. We also had someone text back and say that we could come by this weekend, and I have absolutely no idea who she is or where she lives. Oh the joys of mission life. :)

Well that was my week. It was crazy. I have learned to just live on day at a time. Things are only going to be as good as you make them. It's crazy, but I am learning that is just how my life is going to be. :)

Love you,
Elder O'Neill
(I think he was typing fast, so there are a few mistakes. But I hope you enjoy it anyway! I sure did!)
MOM

Tofield Chapter 13

Oh man so many changes in just one week. I think my head is on straight. It's been crazy.

Well I don't remember if I told you, but I got a new companion. His name is Elder Laulu. He is from Samoa. It's been interesting. We haven't even been together a week.

Tuesday

Well It was Canada Day. It was a non-pros day so we had to figure out what to do to fill our time. We went to the Pancake breakfast. It was in the middle of 50 St. They had to clean it up to get ready for the Parade. It was pretty boring for the first little bit. We didn't really find anyone to talk to. Before the Parade we walked all the way down the street and back up the other side, before we found anyone. We did finally find Fishers and Comaniuks. Pillings were across the street. We then went to the BBQ at The House. We were able to talk to a lot of people that we knew there. After that we took a little break at the appt. We then went and checked out the fairgrounds. There wasn't much there. Watched some barrel racing for a bit. We then drove around and said goodbyes. We had supper at the Fisher's. It was a fun night. The last thing we were going to do, was I told Elder Garver we would go to this little Ice Cream place and I would buy. Well we told Fishers that is where we were going so the girls wanted to come so they were right behind us. We knew that Bro Fisher was going to do it, but we tried to not let him. Well he did end up paying for us instead. Apparently they don't take Visa which is what my card is and I couldn't pull out the cash I had fast enough. It was pretty funny. We then dropped by the House, because we promised some people that we would go to the movie. I don't know why. We got there for the last 5 min. We were able to talk to some people there and talk with Sherilyn and Daniel and some other people we know from there. It was a crazy day.

Wednesday

Well we got up and got everything ready for transfers. Transfer meeting wasn't until noon and it was only like a 45 min drive. Ya we found out in the time it takes to drive to Veg from Tofield, we can go from Tofield and drive to the west side of Edmonton. We ended up leaving early and visiting some one from Elder Garver's old area. We then went to Transfer meeting. I couldn't believe it. Elder Marsh went home. He was done. It didn't seem that long ago that I was with him. Time sure flies by.  Also Elder Shreeve went home. I have known these missionaries my whole mission and now they are gone. Crazy! Well after that our new district (Fort skat 1 and 2, and us) plus Vermillion went out to Panada Express in Sherwood Park for lunch. We came back and I let Elder Laulu unpack a little. I had some phone calls I needed to make. We then went and I introduced him to Sis Roughley. We talked with her for a bit and then went to Fishers for supper. Yes two nights in a row. They did that on purpose.

Thursday

We had District Meeting at the baseball field again, then went to Kelly's. I guess it takes some time to get to know new people. We then drove to Veg. We helped out at the cultural center for the pysanka festival. We then went and weeded this lady's community garden plot. We then went and visited with Katelyn. We were going to go pick up dinner from Sis Skeem, but surprised us and invited a friend over so we could eat there. After that we went and visited with Sis Yost. then drove home.

Friday

Well I didn't know before, but we do language study now. Elder Laulu is learning English so we have an extra hour of studies. We then had lunch and then did Weekly planning. We tried by some potentials. We didn't really know what to do, so we went to Ryley. I wasn't even really thinking of leaving tofield until supper. We were being lead by the Spirit. We stopped by the McCauley's. We then went to try by Sis Godin. Well we knocked on the door and she came and let us in. I don't know if she ever lets people in. She told us that she had a feeling that we might be coming by today. It was then that I guess we were doing things right. We had supper at Cahoon's. We then went and played volleyball at the church. The Fishers and Woodruffs play on some Friday nights and they invited their friend to come play. It was fun. Elder Laulu is a powerful striker.

Saturday

Veg. We went after lunch. We vistied with sis Gillespie. Then went and talked with Soren. We talked with Chuck, but not for too long. We had supper at Subway and shopped. We then went and talked with Shirley. We then drove out to Stennes' and talked with Bro Stennes for a bit before coming home.

Sunday

Well I thought it was branch council, but it wasn't so we were one of the first people at the church. We had church and then lunch. We tried by some people for the rest of the night. No one was really home. We did ended up talking with Jesse since Murray wasn't home for a bit. We drove home and talked with Sherilyn for a little while, before we went in.

Monday

Well it was p-day. We relaxed for a little bit then shopped. We went and helped Woodruff's move for a while then went to the Tiedemann's for the night with the Gillis'. Played around and had fun. not really much.

Well that was my week. It's weird being in charge of the area. I forgot what it feels like. Just have to be patient with everything.

Love ya,

--

Elder Colin O'Neill

Ps forgot my camera cord. I'll send pics next week.

Tofield Chapter 12

Well I was going to write that this week is transfers, but as of 10:30 we hadn't gotten a call yet. It's now 10:35 and we just got off the phone. Like we guessed Elder Garver is leaving and I'm staying. I'm getting Elder Laulu. He is Samoan. That will be different. :)

Oh and to keep you on your toes, I'm emailing on Monday since Tuesday is Canada day and we are in Veg for goodbyes. Maybe life will settle down.

Well to tell you about my week.

Tuesday

Well we emailed, then had lunch. We were going to practice the song for Sacrament,but Sis Hillyer had to cancel it. Oh well. We ended up doing some tracting. We were tracting we just knocked on this door and no one answered. We were coming down the stairs and this lady called from the door. We went back up to the door to talk to her. Well she turned out to be really cool. She is blind. She told us that she is looking for something more in her life. We promised her that she could find it in the Gospel. We are going back on the 10th. She is so prepared. Well we were tracting across the street after that and we met this lady who answered the door and said I'm busy and walked away. Well we finished that street and had just driven off when Pres Hillyer called us. (He was working next door to her.) He called us if we could come back and help her mow the lawn. We ran to change into service clothes and then mowed her lawn. First time using an electric mower. I'm grateful for gas mowers. That cord got stuck on every bush and was always in the way. Oh Canada. She needed help washing her windows, but we had to go so we left Pres Hillyer there. We ran back to change and met Bro McDaniel for a lesson with Brian. It went pretty well. We were able to start seeing a change already. He was a lot more open then the first time we talked with him. We then followed Bro McDaniel back to his house and had supper with them. After that we tried some people out on the range roads. We then went to Cahoon's for a haircut. 

Wednesday

Well we drove to Veg. We tried to stop by some people in the morning, but no one was home. We ended up helping at the Library for a little while. We had lunch and went shopping. We then went and visited with Soren. He was telling us stories for like an hour and half. It was pretty crazy. We then went and met with Anthony. We had a pretty good lesson with him. We read 1 Nephi 1 with him and helped to relate it to him and understand it. We then talked with Chuck for a little then drove back to Tofield. Daniel took us to Montana's for dinner since Elder Garver was probably leaving. It was super good. I couldn't finish it so I had leftovers. 

Thursday

We did some Weekly Planning then helped out at Busy B. We went to Ryley and tried by some people there. We had supper with Chutes, then that night we went out to Trent and Khristina's. 

Friday

Well we had District Meeting that morning. They had a lesson the night before so we switched Thursday and Friday. We had Lunch @ Kelly's. We then went on exchanges. I went with Elder Babb to Fort Skat. We went and helped Bro Agar build his deck. We did that until supper. We picked up pizza's from one of the older women of the ward. We then went back and ate. We really didn't do too much the rest of the night. 

Saturday

Well we got up and helped Bro Agar with the deck some more. We did it until we were supposed to exchange back. We exchanged back and drove to Pillings for a goodbye. We then drove to Tofield. We tried by Brian, but he was busy. We went to mormon.org time and did about 15 minutes until the library closed. We then went and had supper. Then tried by some people and finished tracting the last like 10 houses. Tofield has been tracted out. We then went to Murry's. He took us out to their land out of the town. It was nice. It was raining and we were soaking wet. 

Sunday

Well we had church. Sister Kastendieck came home from her mission. I've found like 3 connections to her. This world is small. After church we went home to change a little and then went out the Kastendieck's acreage for supper. We were there for a while. We came back and tried by some people, but nothing. 

Well that was my week. Transfers meeting will be fun. There will be a lot of missionaries there and a lot that I know. Elder Marsh and some others that I know will be going home this week. I guess mission life does end eventually. I don't want it to. 

Love you,

--

Elder Colin O'Neill

Tofield Chapter 6

Well this week was pretty fun. So much happens each week it amazes me that only a week has gone by. It has been pretty great. Oh we also had transfer calls yesterday and Elder Garver and I are staying together for one more transfer. It's going to be great.

Tuesday

Well we helped out at the Lodge. No one was bowling with us so we asked if anyone wanted to do a puzzle and a couple ladies came over. We emailed and then went to change to help Heidi. She is the lady that Elder Mugerian and I met at busy bee. We went out and helped her put together her garden. It is a pretty cool idea. She took some wooden pallets and put landscape fabric on the bottom she is going to fill it with soil and plant things in between the slats. We were out there moving things around for her for a couple of hours. We came back and did some tracting. We had supper at Galongo/Panter. He wasn't there for a long time, so we checked out their place. There are some horse that the owner has on the property and we got to go see them and pet them. We finally just had supper and he came home when we had finished.

Wednesday

Veg day. We went out and helped the Stennes. We moved everything out of their garage/ front room. It looked pretty nice afterwards. Sis S went and got McDonalds, but we were done and had to go before she was back and so we debated for a long time whether or not to leave. We finally just stayed around until she came. We went and met with Sis Gillespie and Sis Yost. We went and talked with Bill for a little while. We stopped by Brianne and just talked with her outside. She seemed hesitant for a lesson. We had supper and then went bowling. The rest of the night was pretty dead then we drove back.

Thursday

We had District meeting. It was fun. Since we were going to have transfers we didn't know who was going to be leaving so for our activity we had a talent show. I played a medley of Choose the Right and Sweet Hour of Prayer that I came up with. It was a lot of fun. We had lunch at Kelly's. then we drove back to Tofield and worked at Busy Bee. We tracted a lot that day too. We almost have the new division tracted out. which is about 1/4 of the town. We had supper at Pillings and then helped them shovel goat poo. That was quite an experience. I held a chicken and caught and held a baby goat. It was pretty fun. Good stories.

Friday

We had weekly planning then lunch. We had Mormon.org time then tracted. We tried by some range road former and potentials before supper at Cahoon's. We were waiting for the burger's to finish so we went to see their horses. We drove and finally got to meet Dan. We have tried him a couple of times and he was finally available to talk for a little bit. We then went back and met with Daniel. That was pretty cool. He mostly leads the conversation. We really didn't get to teach much, but we had a prayer at the end which was cool. It was a circle prayer so we all go around and say a little bit. It was different, but good.

Saturday

Veg day. We went to Veg and helped Katelyn move some things. We then changed at Chuck's. We went and tried by some friends of Sis Yost that have met with missionaries before, but they weren't interested. We went and talked with Soren. We shared a scripture and said a prayer with him, which was cool. We haven't ever done that before, so it was awesome. We stopped by Thompsons and did a quick lesson with them. They really aren't very interested in the Gospel. We met with Shirley and invited her to church. She was going to come, but texted us that night that she had to take her husband to work, so she couldn't come. :P. We had supper at Chuck and Mary's. We went back over to help put in a closet for Katelyn. Well nothing is ever simple. It took a lot longer than we thought it would. We hurried home.

Sunday

Well we had church. Roy and Crystal were going to come to church, but never showed up. There wasn't anyone there for Gospel Principles so we went in to Gospel Doctrine. I never realized how much you can learn from just the simple things. GD went over my head. After church we had coordination. It was the first in a long time. Bro Fisher is going to be a great WML. We tried by Zoe and Candace. Neither were available. So we had lunch. We went over and talked with Bro Tollstrup for a little bit and then went out to supper at Woodruff's. Well it was the whole Woodruff Family. Sis Woodruff the Mom, The Younger Woodruff family and the Fisher. It reminded me of Family dinners at Peg's. We then came back and tried some people. We went and talked with Murray and Jesse for a bit.

Monday

Monday was a lot of fun. We went to the Kastendieck's acreage again. Bro Kastendieck was home this time and the boys didn't have school. They slept over the night before and we came in the morning. We just had some fun and played around. We hauled some wood and that was about all of the work that we did. It was a ton of fun. We went back and we were going to have lunch at Kastendieck's. We decided to run home and shower quickly. We did that and came back for lunch. They made...wait for it...Moose steaks. It smelled quite gammy, but it was really good. We then took off over to Gillis'. We played a game with Bro Gillis for the rest of the afternoon. It was fun. He has different games then what I'm used to. It takes a lot more thinking and strategy. We had supper with them as well. We shared our message and their daughters friend was there for it. It was a pretty good night.

Well that was my week. Packed with fun and excitement. It's great. :)
Love you all,

Elder Colin O'Neill

Tofield Chapter 11

Wow I can't believe it's almost been two transfers here. We have transfer calls next Monday. It's crazy. Well I guess this will be a shorter email since I didn't email till Wednesday last week, but still a lot went on.

Wednesday

So we got up and emailed. We then helped Chuck out. They were cleaning out one of their friends houses before the new people took possession Friday. So we helped him load stuff into the truck and take it back to his house and put it in their tarp shed. It was a long day. He took us to Timmy's for lunch and then Mary made supper for us as well. We went to bowling and it was fun. They were doing bingo bowling. Whatever a person bowled then you check off the square with the score. It was fun. 8 and 11 are hard to get in 5 pin bowling. Did I mention it is only 5 pin bowling up here, for the most part? After that we stopped by Anthony and talked with him a bit. We used one of the trainings that we learned at zone conference with him and committed him to read 10 minutes a day. It was great He asked "would it be rude to read in the bathroom?" Then we just drove home.

Thursday

Well we didn't have district meeting, but we did have lunch at Kelly's. We met Elder Babb and Elder Jenkins there for exchanges. We went on a three way exchange to get to know the district better. I was with Elder Jenkins in Fort Skat. We had fun. I was able to give Elder Jenkins some cool ways to find people through formers and potentials. Apparently some of the members have friends that they haven't told to the missionaries. It was a pretty fun time.

Friday

Well we exchanged back and then drove home and had lunch. We then planned and tracted. We had supper with Sis Brockhurst, Sis Roughley and the Chutes. It was really great. I think we just tracted the rest of the night.

Saturday

Veg Day. We went and visited Sis Gillespie. She was in the long term care place. It is a really nice place and good for her. It was pretty cool. She said the prayer at the end. We then went and were going to get haircuts from Shirley's mom, but we went and they weren't home. We then went and shopped at Walmart. We came back and Shirley's husband answered and said she didn't feel well. So no haircuts. We grabbed a small sandwich at Subway. We went to see Thompsons' but they weren't home. So we went and visited with Sis Yost. We then went to Roy and Crystal's. It was Roy's birthday on Sunday so they invited us over for his birthday party. It was fun. We got to meet Crystals' family. It was cool. We then had supper at Bates. We had a good time there. We then went out to the Stennes and had a good conversation with one of their friends. He was over to help fix their car and it was really entertaining for us as he was trying really hard not to swear in front of us.

Sunday

Well we had Branch Council and they talked about the Branch mission plan. We then had normal church. I was really able to learn a lot. I wish we could have had some investigators there. We then had a coordination since Sis Pufong was at church this week. We went home and had lunch. We then stopped by potentials and tracted for most of the night. We did stop by Carol's and had a good lesson with her and her family. We did the same thing of introducing the story of the Book of Mormon through the pictures in the front cover. It went really well. We then continued to stop by potentials and tract. We did tract into one guy that doesn't believe in the New Testament or the Book of Mormon. He is a mason. We are going back with Bro McDaniel later today. That will be fun.

Monday

P-day was fun. We got up and went to Elk Island National Park. We didn't actually go to the park, but to the free side on the other side of the Highway. That side just has a hike around one of the lakes. It is 16 Km long. We went probably 5 in total 2.5 out 2.5 back. It was more like a photography trip for me. I took a lot of cool pictures. There was a lot of green though. It reminded me of the Ellis' bird farm. We then came back grabbed lunch and went to play basketball. It was pretty fun. We then came back and I took like a 30 min nap then took a shower. We then met Heidi, the lady that we do service for, at Tilley's. She was taking us out for supper to repay us. Elder Garver and I got a large pizza, half donair, half perogie. It was soooo good. We had a really good talk with her and we were able to answer a lot of her questions about the church. We then went and helped Sis Beck move some plants, then talked with her for a while. We then tried by some people and tracted. We did stop by one house. We are pretty sure they thought we were JW, but were pretty adamant that we never go back ever never. It was one of those, Wow calm down we understand bye moments.

Well that was my week. As exciting as it can get.
Love you,
Elder O'Neill

Tofield Chapter 10

WOW this week was crazy. We didn't get to email until Wednesday since we had zone conference yesterday and the library is closed on Monday. Wednesday is a long time to wait to email everyone. I don't like it. Well other than that everything else is good.

Tuesday

Well we emailed and then had lunch. We spent the whole day trying potentials and tracting. We had supper at Sis Roughley's with the older Fisher's and her friend Della. It was really cool. We had a lesson on the BOM, but as it went on Della had questions about the POS so we talked a little bit about it then and gave her a POS pamphlet. It was a really cool lesson. We then stopped by the Princes and then went and met with Galongo's. It was pretty relaxing to finally sit down and talk.

Wednesday

Veg day. We had a lot that went on. We were going to meet with Anthony with Bro Bates but that didn't happen. We had to fill in some time before our lesson with Meggie and Sis Fisher. It was pretty funny. I don't remember what we were teaching, but we wanted Sis Fisher to invite her to church. We didn't really know how to give Sis Fisher the clue so Elder Garver showed her the page in the back of the pamphlet about Come Worship with Us. She didn't know if he wanted her to read the page or what. He finally pointed to the Come Worship with Us and she turns to Meggie, "Well now I going to invite you to church." It was pretty funny. We need members at lessons but we don't always know how to make everything go. We had lunch out at the Bates, elk hamburger stew. We met with Sis Gillespie. She is back in the hospital. We then went to Soren and Lynda's. Well we finally got our pics taken. It was pretty fun. I was much more comfortable posing for them then Elder Garver. We met with Sis Yost. Chuck and Mary took us to Vito's for supper. After we ran to bowling. It was fun since it was funky bowling. They had to do different things each round. I don't remember it perfectly but it was something like normal, right hand, left hand, both hands, backwards, one foot, sitting down, holding a team mates hand, between the teams legs, then however. It was pretty fun to watch them. They were having a great time too. We then went out to Stennes' and helped them move some washers around to get fixed or taken away.

Thursday

Well we had district meeting and lunch at Kelly's. We came back and helped out at Busy B. We then drove to Ryley. We stopped by the McCauley's. Sis McCauley had their baby and he was doing well. We then tracted in Ryley for a while. We had supper with Bro Fisher again, then we tracted some more.

Friday

We did a little bit of planning then went to the Food Bank. We actually helped out that time. We then finished planning and had lunch. We did Mormon.org time and then tried Potentials and tracted. We helped take down the Farmer's market again. We didn't have to take down the tables this time which was nice. We then had supper at Cahoon's. The Older Cahoons just came back from their mission in Burundi Africa. So we got to meet Sis Cahoon. It was fun. They also have one of those back stretching things that lets you hang upside down and we tried it out. It was really fun. Just hanging by your feet was cool. We then went and met with Carol again. She is super nice. We cut it short, because we were going to help Sis Roughley move some dirt, but when we got there she changed her mind for that night. It was alright.

Saturday

Veg Day. We went out first thing to the Stennes and helped them out. I guess a lot has been going on and our visit was a really good thing. We then had lunch. We went and visited with Sis Skeem. We then went and met with Shirley. We showed her about Mormon messages. Before we could watch one we found one for Father's day and she shared it on her husbands Facebook page for everyone to see. It was pretty awesome. We then went to try potentials and stopped by Dianne. We had called her many times before but we couldn't ever make things work out. We just stopped by and she let us in. We walked in and there were scriptures and pictures of Christ all over the walls. On the table she had three different bibles open. It was crazy. We were a little worried about what we were getting into, but she is just confused. She had been bouncing between about 4 different churches and is just confused. We started by talking about the Book of Mormon and how it really does give us more than the bible does. She already had three of those from different missionaries before. We then had supper and tried to take a small nap. We had a lesson with Roy and Crystal, which went pretty well. On the way out of town we stopped and got shakes at DQ. I miss going and getting shakes every so often.

Sunday

Well it was church. The senior Cahoons spoke and it was really cool. They had quite a time in Africa. After church they had a lunch since a lot of their family was there and they live a decent ways from the church. They invited anyone to come. There was plenty of food and it was good. We spent most of the night tracting. We did stop by the Comeniuks and had a good visit with them. Their RM daughter told us to go stop by her friend. After that we tracted that street. It is right by our apartment. She was nice but busy and told us to come back another time. We at some point took a supper break. We then kept trying potentials and tracting. We ended the night at Murray's. It was weird that time.

Monday

Well it was pday, but didn't really start off like a pday. Heidi that I met at Busy B needed our help that morning. She had found someone to put a window in her shed and he needed help. I didn't mind going out to help. We put the window in and did some other things that were some heavy lifting. We then came back and changed to go play basketball with The Kastendieck's and their friends. There were a lot of people there this time. It was fun. We had 4 on 4 games. It was a long time though. We were there for like 4 hours playing basketball. We then came back and showered and took a nap. We got ready and had supper with Bro Tiedemann. It was nice. We then tried by some potentials.

Tuesday

Well we had zone conference. It was supposed to be from 8:30-4:00, but what ever starts on time. It was more like 9:00 to 4:30. It was really good though. It was fun too. I got to see Elder Coomer and Sis McEwen again. I got to hear about what's been going on. Apparently since I left Elder Hentunen and his comp started to focus on teaching Annette's daughter Kennedy more and she is getting baptized this Saturday. That was really cool to hear. You never know what you might start in one area and have to leave behind for someone else. It was truly amazing news. Well after Zone Conference we headed to Veg. It was cool driving through Edmonton, because the road that leads to Veg went through Londonderry and we drove through a little bit of it. We had supper with Shaw's. We then tracted for a bit. Then we went to Chuck's.

Well it was a crazy week. A lot happened. A lot always happens. One week can hold so many fun and exciting things if you are looking for them. :)

Love you all,
Elder Colin O'Neill