Where does the time go?

It is amazing how fast the time goes out here! I feel like Monday rolls around so quickly! We had another busy week as usual. Last Monday we drove Elder Wolfe to the airport so he can go home to have surgery on his back. We were so sad to send him off, but we are just planning that he will be back here quickly!! We hate seeing any missionary have to go home for medical reasons...and so we are always praying for a quick recovery.
Then we had our usual meeting with our senior couples serving in the office. Can I just tell you again how much we love these couples? A mission can't run without the couples in the office! We are so grateful for them and all they do.
Then Monday we drove out to BC to attend their zone training meeting Tuesday morning and do their interviews. On our way out we saw the most wildlife we have ever seen! We saw a cow moose, and tons of elk, and deer, and some mountain goats, and then Steve saw a grizzly bear! I was looking somewhere else, and it was almost dark when he spotted it. So we hurried and turned around so I could see it, and it was gone. But we saw the carcass of a dead deer that it had been eating--so we knew it wouldn't go far. We drove back and forth several times hoping to see it again, but we didn't. I was so disappointed! I have been wanting to see a bear in our travels! It was exciting!
Tuesday we attended the zone training meeting with the BC zone, and it was great. This is a zone of all elders with the exception of Elder and Sister Ebert, our senior couple. This zone is seeing wonderful things happen because of their hard work. I had a special experience with this zone--while the elders were sitting in the foyer of the church waiting to be interviewed, Elder Forsyth suggested we do a companion study with all of us, so we all grabbed our scriptures and read together. Elder Walker chose our first chapter to read and talk about. It was such a great experience with these wonderful missionaries. We each would read 2 verses, and whenever we wanted to we would stop and make comments and talk about what we were learning. I love learning from these missionaries! They are just so amazing with their insights. It was really a great experience.
Following their interviews we drove back to Lethbridge so we could do interviews with the Lethbridge and Lethbridge East zones Wednesday and Thursday and then we drove back to Calgary Thursday night. We then did the Calgary zone interviews on Friday and the Fish Creek zone interviews on Saturday.
Saturday evening we were asked to speak at the first ever Alberta Korean fireside hosted by the Calgary First ward. The members there invited friends and family from all over--even as far as Saskatchewan. It was such a special night. These Korean saints had such a wonderful spirit about them. Everything was done in Korean (of course, even though most speak English), so Steve and I wore headphones for translation. There were 2 youth speakers and one adult and they all gave amazing talks. There was also a choir that performed and then a group of 6 youth playing the violins and cello and piano. They performed "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing". It was beautiful--you could feel their testimonies through their music.
Steve and I each shared a few words (with someone translating for us) although as we looked out into the audience we noticed that very few wore headphones--so we then knew they understood English quite well.
After that we went into the cultural hall for true Korean food! It was so fun! But I have learned that they like their food spicy! I didn't even try the KimChi because some of the other stuff I had was enough spice for me! But, it was such a great night, and they are hoping this is the beginning of an annual tradition. We found out there are about 20,000 Koreans living in the Calgary area. In the year 2,000 there were about 2,000. So, their numbers are growing. They are wonderful saints, and you could feel their spirits. We were so glad we could attend.
This week we begin zone conferences. We always love these! We are doing a shortened version of them however because of our Mission President's Seminar in Denver that we will be going to on Thursday. We always look forward to that where we receive training, and being taught by the General Authorities. We look forward to that like our missionaries look forward to Zone Conference!
It uplifts us and keeps us going!
This gospel is true and we love it. Everything in my life is better because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It gives me hope, peace, purpose, and direction, and great happiness. I love this gospel. I wish everyone could hear it and embrace it. We love to be able to share it whenever we can, and give pass along cards to people. We meet people in the hotels we stay in, at restaurants, the grocery store, etc., and we always try to share the gospel in some way with them. We want everyone to have a chance to hear it. It has blessed our lives so immensely that we want others to feel what we feel. And that's why these great missionaries are out here! They just want to bring this joy into the lives of others.