Sunday, April 29th, started lots of excitement for us. President was notified that we would be getting four elders Monday evening. All the volunteers (missionaries) in Turkey were quickly been sent elsewhere due to political unrest. President and Sister Shields were going to be out of town for a couple of days doing interviews, so they asked us to pick up the elders at the airport and host them at the Mission Home. We had to pack a bag for a sleep over. We got to sleep in the General Authorities Room. We had a great dinner that included roast pork. None of them had eaten pork since they left home. We were excited to host these four fine young elders. One was from Edmonton and the others were from the United States. One of the American elders had been living in Saudi Arabia with his family before his mission. He knows our nephew, Dan and his family.
In the morning as I was preparing breakfast for the elders, I looked out the patio door and noticed that we had a visitor. I DID NOT open the door to shoo him away.
May 4th brought in a new AP. Elder Ballard is going back out into the field for his last transfer. We now have Elder Hunter working with Elder Kimball.
Saturday morning several missionaries and young adults helped with the annual cleanup of the Churchville Cemetery. This was a great service project for the Helping Hands of the Church. We spent a couple of hours there helping the community.
Saturday afternoon was an astonishing time for all the missionaries. They all came in to Brampton from all across the mission. Many had to start their journey on Friday to get here. We all got to meet President M. Russell Ballard and be taught by him and others that came here from Salt Lake. He taught the missionaries to wake up with a smile on their faces and a positive attitude. Your attitude and smile will be contagious as you talk to people that you meet. As you open your mouth (OYM), people will be more apt to listen to the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ if you are truly happy. He promised them astonishing results if they followed his council. It was hard to get the missionaries to head to their areas, they were so pumped and excited.
The above photo (taken by Elder Leung) was of Hermana Karpa and Hermana Arrayan talking to two police officers in the parking lot after the meeting with President Ballard. They were interested and the sisters got their contact information. They are super sisters as are all of our missionaries.
This past week May 7-9, we had transfers. A lot of great missionaries went home and some great ones arrived. So goes the six week cycle of transfers.
Yesterday, we went to a park near the Mission Home. It is filled with beautiful Japanese cherry trees that were a gift to Brampton from Japan.
Today, on Mother's Day, we went into Toronto to go to Church. We went to the old Mission Home at 133 Lyndhurst Avenue first. This is where my parents were married. We then went on to the chapel at 851 Ossington Avenue. This is the chapel where I was blessed as a baby. It has been added on to over the years. The original chapel is now the Primary Room. The original pulpit was in a foyer as a historical memory. This was special to me.
This week, I received by DNA results from Ancestry. I have met some new cousins from this and renewed acquaintances with others. Hope to visit with some before we go home.
It is hard to believe that we will be leaving here in just over two months. Serving a mission as a senior couple is an amazing, or should I say "Astonishing" experience. Serving the Lord brings such joy into our lives. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. It is our Heavenly Father's plan of happiness.
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