Whirlwind of Activities in the Toronto Mission

We have been so busy these past 2 1/2 weeks.  Time is flying by.  April 25th was MLC (Mission Leadership Council) in the mission.  The office couples start preparing breakfast (waffles, fruit, yogurt and juice) at 7 AM for about 34 missionaries.  This time there was some confusion for their lunch so we had to run out and get pizzas, chips and pop for them.

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.

 Friday, May 4th, brought in a storm with rain and wind like most had not seen in a long time.  Torrents of rain and winds well over 100 kph.  Trees were uprooted, power lines down, and the airport closed for a few hours.  We sat in our apartment with the windows partially open and listed to the wind.  Some say the wind had never been that bad since 1954 (Hurricane Hazel).  I was here for that as well.  Hmmm.  A large pine tree was uprooted at the mission home, but nothing was damaged other than the tree.

 

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.

Spring is Finally Here in Brampton

April General Conference we had the humbling experience of sustaining our new prophet, Russell M. Nelson.  He is such a humble and loving man.  He is close to the Lord in all he does and says.
Conference was amazing with all the announcements and teachings.  We can all become closer to the Lord as we learn to minister the way the Savior did.

The first week of April was one spiritual experience after another.  General Conference was such a great start to the week.  April 4-6 we had a Mission Tour/Zone Conference.  We had S. Gifford Nielsen and his wife, Wendy, visit with us and teach all of the missionaries.  Wednesday evening, most of the senior missionary couples were able to come and have dinner with them and listen to some amazing experiences.  As Elder Nielsen spoke of Conference, he said that more is to come.  Elder Nielsen taught the missionaries to set goals and plans on how to achieve their goals.  He also taught the Plan of Salvation and showed it as a Plan of Love.  Sister Nielsen reminded everyone to remember "who you are and whose you are."  We are sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother.

Saturday, April 7th, was our annual Relief Society party.  We had a joint party with our ward, Heart Lake Ward, and Brampton Ward.  The theme was the Temple.  We had a delicious meal followed by an activity of painting a picture of the Toronto Temple.  My efforts in painting left much to be desired.  It was a fun evening.

Monday, April 8th, we had our Senior FHE in our building.  It was at Elder and Sister Anderson's apartment.  We all shared thought from General Conference.  It was a spiritual time and a fun time to socialize.

Friday evening as we were leaving to meet Elder and Sister Donnelly for dinner, our garage door would not open.  We called them to pick us up.  We do not like apartment living some days.

Friday night (Apr 13) through Sunday night, an ice storm hit most of southern Ontario, including Brampton.  Church was cancelled on Sunday due to very icy roads and a thick layer of ice every where.  We had fun watching out our window as a few brave cars tried to leave our parking area.  Saturday night, I phoned all the senior couples in our building to plan a short meeting in Elder and Sister Card's apartment on Sunday afternoon.  We shared more about General Conference and also what we learned at our Mission Tour with Elder and Sister Nielsen.  Sister Card made some delicious cinnamon buns and brownies for treats.
Monday morning, shortly before we left for the Mission Office, our parking area had most of the ice plowed away so cars to move.

When we got to the Mission Office, it was like a huge skating arena.  They were just starting to plow there.  We had to wait about 15 - 20 minutes before we could get in and park.

Today, we were asked to help in the Family History Centre for a Stake Youth Activity.  There were lots there and it was fun to help them.  Some were doing research on their family lines and others were indexing.  It was also fun to see them work together and help each other.  It ended with a nice lunch brought in from the Mandarin, our favorite Chinese food restaurant.

The last couple of days have been warmer and sunnier.  I think that spring is finally here.

We are so enjoying serving a mission for our Father in Heaven.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  He loves you!

Spring is here in Brampton

March has been amazing in the mission field.  It is a joy to work closely with these young warrior elders and angel sisters.  We love these young missionaries so much.  They are an awesome extension to our family.  They are like more grandchildren.

This was our chosen parking spot at our zone conference in London.  Scary to think we are in that category - well, at least in relation to all the missionaries.

Spring is here, unlike snowy Calgary back home.  We have some sun and a few snow flurries.  The clouds here in Brampton are so awesome.  We have seen lots of geese returning and even a few robins.

Two weeks ago, we had Family Home Evening at the home of Elder and Sister Hodgson.  The showed us a video of General Conference, October 1990.  Here, President Monson spoke of "Days Never to be Forgotten."  In this talk, he talked about the early days of the Church in Canada (Ontario), his time as a mission president here, and the beautiful Toronto Temple.  It was wonderful to watch.  Here is a link so that you can read or watch the talk.  If you can, watch it as the pictures are beautiful.

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1990/10/days-never-to-be-forgotten?lang=eng

We had the elders from our ward (Heart Lake Ward) for dinner last Sunday.  This was right before transfers.  Elder Garner and Elder Cruz are awesome.

This past week has been a wildly busy week.  Monday through Wednesday was transfers.  We had four super missionaries go home and five awesome and enthusiastic missionaries arrive.  Monday was arrival time for the new missionaries.  We had dinner with them at the Mission Home.  It is fun to get to know them.  Five new grandchildren for us.  As we arrived at the Mission Home, we notice tulips and daffodils coming up in the garden.  I love Spring.

 Dinner at the Mission Home is always fun.

Elder Kimball, our newest AP, got the last of the dessert.  We gave him the serving bowl and he cleaned it out.

Once transfers were finalized in the computer (Thursday), I had to do residency letters for all the missionaries and redo the transfer board in President Shields' office.

Friday, we had MLC (Mission Leadership Council).  This is for all zone leaders and sister trainer leaders to be trained by President and Sister Shields and the APs.  The office staff were on hand bright and early (7 AM) to make breakfast of waffles, fruit, yogurt and juice for this awesome group.  We got to eat too.  This council usually goes all day, but they finished after lunch (served by Sister Padron).  The Friday before General Conference we have four sessions booked at the temple for the missionaries who can get here in less than about 2 hours.  Elder Swendsen and I attended the second session.  There is such a wonderful spirit in the temple with all these wonderful missionaries.

The best thing of this past week was Wednesday, as we had the arrival of a new grandson, Everest Isaiah Swendsen.  He joins Evan and Tara's family with Cameron, Phoenix and Raelyn.  We now have 19 grandchildren and one great grandchild.  Added to these sweet ones are 193 wonderful missionaries.

 General Conference has been amazing so far.

We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  The only way to have true happiness and joy is to keep our Father in Heaven's commandments.  Obedience brings blessings.  We love serving the Lord here in Brampton.

Time is Marching By Faster and Faster

I am sorry that it has been two months since our last posting.  Time is flying by.  In four months, we will be on our way home.  Last Saturday, we booked hotels in Palmyra, Kirtland and Nauvoo for our return home.  We have so much to do before then.  We have had unusual winter weather here in Brampton.  Many severe storms have been forecasted, but they seem to miss our small area.  Lots of snow and ice all around but not too much in Brampton.  Church was cancelled a few weeks ago due to a bad ice storm coming.  It missed us.

We had another transfer in February with great new missionaries coming in.  It has been sad to see great missionaries going home.

In February, Elder McBeth (on the right) went back to serving in Toronto and speaking Farsi again, which he loves.  Our new AP is Elder Kimball, on the left.  He and Elder Ballard (middle) are now our APs.  We have had such wonderful APs the whole time we have been here.

We have had lots of Family Home Evenings on Monday nights at various homes.  We love the people of Brampton.  I found out last month that one of the brothers in our ward is my third cousin.  I was helping him and his wife with an e-mail about an ancestor that they did not recognize.  As we followed the line, I started to recognize his family members.  My second great grandfather and his second great grandmother are brother and sister.  In February, I taught a Family History class on how to organize your digital photographs and documents.  We had some technical teaching to do as well to help some.

The last Saturday in February, we went to Toronto to see the beaches and harbour.  At the Waterfront (right downtown) we saw this beautiful swan and this really cool ship.  We then drove a bit further east and stopped at Woodbine Beach.  They had several architectural ways using the lifeguard towers as a base.  We also discovered a piano on the beach that people could play. I also had to take my shoes off and walk in the sand for a bit.  The sand was cool, but not cold.

 March 2nd was Elder and Sister Donnelly's 50th anniversary.  They are the medical advisers in the office.  On March 1st, the office couples and President and Sister Shields all went to Vesuvios for the best Italian food.  It was amazing, especially the dessert - a chocolate and raspberry mousse.

The first Sunday in March, I taught another Family History Class.  This one was on How to Prepare Names to Take to the Temple.  It went very well.  I heard later that several were able to find more names and get them ready.

This past weekend was Stake Conference.  It was excellent.  Both Saturday and Sunday we had a new convert speak.  Their talks of their conversion were amazing.

Last week was zone conference for three days.  We went to Oshawa, London, and Barrie.  We drove over a bridge in London that crossed the River Thames.  Our missionaries all are using smart phones and Facebook to help with their teaching and reaching out to their investigators.  They are amazing to watch as they are all posting very uplifting thoughts and scriptures.  We have so many "new" friends on Facebook now.

Yesterday one of the members in Orillia asked to be my friend.  It turns out that he was my very first friend when I was a little girl living in West Hill, Ontario.  He is about 3-4 years older than I am.  His wife joined the Church in 1975 and he joined in 1978.  When I asked how he found the gospel, he said it was because my mother was such a good friend to his mother.  My Mom wasn't a member back then.  She was just always gentle and kind and helpful to all.

We are loving being here in the Canada Toronto Mission as missionaries serving in the office.  We love all our wonderful missionaries.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan of happiness and can bring much joy and peace into your life.  Our Father in Heaven loves each one of us, as does the Savior.  The Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God.

First week of 2018

The year 2018 has started off with a big bang.  We were working in the mission office all day.  Monday through Wednesday was "Transfers."  We had lots of new missionaries arrive on Monday, late afternoon.  Elder Swendsen and I got to have dinner with them at the Mission Home with President and Sister Shields.  Each new group coming in is filled with amazing young missionaries.  After dinner, we all shared our testimonies and sang a few hymns.  Elder Swendsen and I then collected all of their legal papers and headed back to the mission office.  We photocopied all of their paperwork and I sent a letter to all of their parents letting them know that their missionary had arrived safely.  It was a late night - we got home about 10:30.  It was such a great night.  We so love these young missionaries with their enthusiasm and love of the gospel. 
Tuesday morning started early (7:30 am) with orientation of all the new missionaries at the Brampton Stake Centre.  This is done by the three office couples.  The Donnellys (medical staff) and I then head back to the office.  The others have to stay and help with some other things.  Late morning and most of the afternoon is what I call "The Swarming."  Missionaries come and go - checking for mail, getting a few supplies and just visiting for a bit with their extra grandparents (the office staff).  It is a super wonderful time. 
Wednesday was the sad day as we had several of our wonderful elders and sisters go home as they had completed their missions. 
Thursday was another early morning as it was the monthly Mission Leadership Council (MLC).  We had to be at the Mission Office just before 7 AM to start preparing breakfast for about 42 missionaries.  We make waffles and have fruit, yogurt and juice for them.  We get some as well.  They have training all day till about 3 PM or so.  Then it is another "Swarming" time.  It was a wonderful week.  This all happened with three of the office staff being sick (Sister Anderson, Elder Swendsen and myself).  We did survive and are all slowing recuperating.
Sunday evening I had the opportunity to teach a Family History class at our stake centre.  It was about writing stories about your ancestors.  Those, who came, seemed to enjoy it and were able to learn a few things.

This is President and Sister Shields.  They are awesome.  They work very long hours to help the missionaries and help the work go forth.  We love our valiant leaders.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is true.  The Book of Mormon is the word of God.  We are saddened by the passing of our dear prophet, President Thomas S. Monson.  He will be missed.  President Nelson will carry on and the work will continue as the Lord would have it.

Serving a mission is such an exhilarating experience.  We love serving the Lord.