Busy, Busy week!

This past week has to have been one of our busiest in our mission so far! We covered a lot of territory and had a lot of meetings! We left last Saturday and drove to Sparwood out in BC to speak in their sacrament meeting on Sunday. We stayed the night with Bishop Prince and his wife Karen and enjoyed his yummy nachos as a treat! It was great to be in their sacrament meeting and see their ward and meet the families. Then after that meeting we drove back to Calgary so Steve could have his meeting with the assistants later that afternoon. On Monday morning we attended a wonderful district meeting in the Bow River zone that was just a perfect district meeting. We were so proud of our missionaries! Then we did all the interviews with that zone and that night we met with our Spanish speaking elders and sisters to discuss their needs and help them in the work. They are all doing a great job and have really committed to talk with everyone-english or spanish speaking! After all we are here to invite 'all' to come unto Christ. Tuesday we had our regular office meeting with our senior couples to discuss the needs of the office, and then we drove to the airport to pick up Elder Chitano who was coming from the MTC one week later than our regular transfer. He is from Italy and they had him stay a little longer to increase his English speaking skills. He rode with us down to Lethbridge to meet his new companion down there. Then Tuesday evening we had a meeting with President MacLennan of the Lethbridge stake and all of their bishops and ward mission leaders and our missionaries serving in that stake. It was a great, productive meeting. Then Wednesday we had our Mission Leadership Council with all of our zone leaders and sister trainer leaders which lasted all day long. We had training videos on the proper use of the smartphones we will be using, and were able to realize the potential we will have to teach and reach people. We are really excited about them! And our missionaries are too! You really come to realize that modern technology is just a blessing we have been given to hasten the Lord's work! Then Wednesday evening Steve went out teaching with elders and I went out teaching with sisters, and we both had great nights doing that. I was able to meet Akelio, an investigator of the sisters, who is a single mother of 5 children who will be baptized on Jan. 27. She had such faith, and spoke about how she prays to Heavenly Father and how He answers her prayers. It was really such a sweet meeting with her! It is so incredible to see how finding the gospel changes people's lives and blesses them.
Thursday morning we started our interviews with our Lethbridge Zone. It is one of our largest zones, so it is a lot of interviews, but our missionaries are all so excited about the work and are doing well. Thursday night we had a meeting with President Atwood of the Lethbridge North Stake and one of his wards about their missionary efforts, which was also a good meeting. Then on Friday morning we held a District Leader Training with all of our district leaders serving down south, and when that was complete we drove back to Calgary and held the same meeting with the district leaders serving up in the Calgary area. They were both great meetings--we discussed how to plan for a District meeting, what it means to minister, how to conduct effective exchanges, and we also had a question and answer time. We felt like it really gave our district leaders good direction and inspiration as to how to serve as a district leader. Their assignment is so important--they are in front of their missionaries every single week, so we depend on them to do a great job planning and teaching their districts. Then on Saturday morning we held a tele-conference call with our district leaders out in BC and Medicine Hat and gave them the same training, which went well. After all that, I was finally able to go to the grocery story and get us some food! We didn't have any milk or anything to eat--so it was good to stock up! We usually always have eggs, but we were even getting low on those!
Then, today we spoke in the McKenzie ward here in Calgary, as they are focusing on their missionary efforts as a ward. We looked at our calendar and realized that we will speak in either a ward or stake conference 6 weeks in a row! I always hope I am saying what the Lord would have me say, and so does Steve. But sometimes, we have to admit, we worry that people are growing weary of hearing us. This upcoming week we will do a lot of interviews and we will prepare for our zone conferences coming up the next week. We were both pretty worn out on Saturday evening, and were grateful to be back in our own bed, too! We are so grateful for how the Lord strengthens us to do the work--because we know we couldn't do it on our own!